A Rose's Scales
by pokeman1280
Summary: Ruby finds a red stone in the middle of the Emerald Forest, only it's not a stone. Now in addition to her studies at Beacon Academy, she must learn what it means to be a Rider in a world where she is the first. Her life will never be the same. Cover image by Riat Visual Works.
1. Escape to Battle

**Hello and welcome to the first story I have uploaded to Fanfiction. At the time of the first upload, this was the first and only RWBY/Inheritance Cycle crossover.**

 **Please note, this chapter has been rewritten from original upload.**

 **I do not own RWBY or Inheritance Cycle.**

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Dragon Rider Aaron Benson knelt at the edge of the large pool in the cave he and his dragon were hiding in. Three years on the run, and it came down to this. Aaron found a scroll the day before containing a spell that could transport him and his dragon out of Alagaësia and away from the traitor and the Forsworn. The only problem was that the location on the other side was different every time. The spell might just save the entire species of dragons.

Aaron turned to look at his forest green dragon, Nalia Quickwing. Five years ago, Nalia hatched for Aaron in the city of Teirm. The two of them were a couple of years into their training and were finally trusted with couriering dragon eggs to various cities to find new Riders.

On their first run though, the traitor, Galbatorix, attacked Vroengard. The home base for the Riders was destroyed and almost all members of the Order were killed. Instead of flying back to assist the elves and remaining Riders in Ilirea, Aaron and Nalia took their teacher's advice and fled north. They had the last remaining eggs, and had to keep them safe.

The forest of Du Weldenvarden and the elves provided a buffer zone that kept the traitor and his minions away for years. That all changed though when Kialandí and his dragon entered the area a week ago. Neither Aaron nor Nalia left their cave, not even to eat. If they were notices, Aaron was fully confident he and Nalia could hold off the invaders with their minds, but when it came to a physical fight, the junior pair would be routed.

"Any sign of them?" Aaron asked his soul mate.

 _They're on the horizon. They haven't spotted us yet, but I don't want to be here when they do._ Nalia looked her Rider in the eyes. _Cast the spell._

Aaron nodded and set to work. He laid out the scroll by the water and started chanting in the Ancient Language. The spell was long and complicated. If even one word was misplaced, it could spell disaster for the pair. In comparison to other spells, this particular one didn't take much energy at all considering the implications. However, that didn't mean that it was as easy as splitting a boulder in half. Several minutes into casting the spell, Nalia growled. _We've been spotted! Hurry up!_ Aaron obliged, speeding up his chanting as much as he dared.

As he finished chanting, the water started to swirl. As it spun, the pool turned a purplish color. Aaron kicked a rock into the pool, but the expected splash never came. "It's ready," he announced. He grabbed the scroll containing the spell and climbed into Nalia's saddle. After he strapped in his legs, Aaron put the scroll in a relatively empty saddlebag, then checked two others for their precious cargo. Sure enough, three dragon eggs sat in the bags.

Aaron patted the neck of his dragon. "Let's go." Nalia didn't wait around. She jumped into the portal…

…and into open sky over an unknown forest. Nalia yelped in surprise and snapped open her wings to avoid plummeting into the greenery below. Aaron looked back up at the portal they just flew through. It looked like a blue and purple whirlpool suspended in the sky. If it was still there though, that probably meant Kialandí could follow through. Aaron cut the flow of energy keeping the portal open, and it disappeared without a trace.

The exhaustion from keeping the portal open hit Aaron and Nalia like a Kull. Still, the Rider smiled. He did it. His dragon and he were free.

 _I'm going to find a place to set down,_ Nalia panted, _that took more out of my than I thought it would._ She started flying toward a mountain that had surprisingly little snow. Aaron looked around the forest below him. Somewhere in those trees might be where Nalia and he call home for who knew how long. The forest didn't look too different from any forest back in Alagaësia, mainly deciduous trees with a few clearings and rocks scattered about.

Aaron looked up at the sky to judge the time of day and would have fallen out of the saddle if he wasn't strapped in. "Nalia, are you seeing this?" Nalia turned her head to look at what her Rider stared at, then stopped her flight. The moon was visible, and it was half shattered.

 _How is this possible?_ Nalia's eyes were wide with fear. _The moon was whole last night. What could cause this?_

The Rider didn't know what to say. Out of everything that changed, the moon was the one constant. Every month, it went from full, to nothing, and then back to full. The same face always showed. Now, that constant had shattered, quite literally. "Let's just find a place to spend the night, okay? We can worry about this later."

Nalia resumed her flight but at a much slower rate. Her head moved from side to side, like she did when she thought something was following her. Aaron could feel her tense up through the saddle. He reached for his sword in preparation for battle. When Nalia thought she was being followed, she was usually right.

This time proved no different. A crow's caw loud enough to be confused with a dragon's roar assaulted Aaron's ears. The Rider looked toward the source of the sound and saw a large black bird flying right at Nalia and him.

Nalia growled and rolled out of the way of the creature's attack. Aaron looked down at the bird below him. It was the size of Nalia, and completely black except for a white and red bone 'mask' on its head. Its body shape overall looked like a mix between a condor and raven. Four red eyes stared back, filled with nothing but hunger and hatred.

The creature attacked once again, this time going for Nalia's exposed belly. She met the black bird halfway, delivering a shoulder to its neck. The dragon's superior mass drove the beast toward the ground. Nalia tried to get her teeth around its neck, but it managed to escape the dragon's shoulder attack.

Nalia breathed a torrent of fire at the bird. The inferno was hot enough to melt stone. However, the creature still flew after the fire stopped. It looked more annoyed than anything. It dove again at Nalia's back, but she managed to roll out of the way. Aaron thought he saw one of the saddlebags get nicked though. He swung his sword at the beast and managed to clip a wing. The creature screamed in pain and rage and turned around for another attack.

By that point, Aaron was getting exhausted, and he could feel Nalia's wing flaps become more labored. The creature had to die soon, or else Nalia would fall out of the sky. Aaron leaned in close to his dragon's ears. "Get me an angle at its neck." Nalia nodded and dove toward the creature. The two titans of the sky met in midair, with Nalia in a slightly more compromising position. The creature had an angle at her neck, but that was by design. As it brought its head back to deliver the killing blow, Nalia twisted her neck, giving Aaron the angle he needed to kill the beast. With a single swing, he loped off the creature's head.

Aaron watched the headless form crash into the forest below. It made a satisfying crash that could most likely be heard for miles around. Both dragon and Rider panted in the air, trying to catch their breath. Nalia turned back to her Rider. _We shouldn't stick around in case there are more nearby._

"Good idea, and good fighting." Aaron patted Nalia on the neck, and he got a light hum in return. He then looked at the saddlebag that took a hit during the fight. His heart started to fall into his stomach. That was one of the bags that held an egg. Aaron opened the top, and saw right down to the forest below.

Panic quickly overtook Aaron. "We lost an egg!" he shouted. Nalia quickly turned herself around and dove toward the forest. She leveled of just above the canopy and swung her head from side to side, trying to get a glimpse of red among all the green. Her own panic rolled off her in waves. Both dragon and Rider stretched their minds out to the forest, but Aaron almost immediately pulled back. There were more creatures down there, filled with the same hate that he saw in the bird's eyes. Their presence made the entire forest feel evil.

Three distinct roars rolled over the forest. Aaron looked over to the sources and saw three more of the black birds flying right at him. He slumped forward in the saddle, defeated. "We can't take them all on," he whispered.

Nalia turned back to face her Rider, fear and rage burning in her eyes. _We can't just leave that egg out there! We have to find it!_

"We can't fight them right now. They'll knock us out of the sky in this state. We'll search when we're well rested. I don't like leaving it out there any more than you do, but we have the two other eggs to take care of. We can't put them in any more danger." Nalia hesitantly nodded, then flew back in her original direction. After a few minutes of chasing, the beasts broke off their pursuit and returned to whatever hellhole they came from, not that they had any chance of catching a Quickwing.

Nalia never slowed down. She flew straight and true toward the hopeful safety of the mountain. Aaron knew half of her was screaming to turn around and find that egg, the other half knew it was sensible to go back when they recovered from the first fight. The Rider put a comforting hand on his dragon's neck. "We _will_ find that egg. Those creatures would be crazy to even lay eyes on it."

The rest of the flight continued in silence. No more birds flew up to meet them, and no other surprises tried to stop them. Nalia found a cave near the top of the mountain and landed just outside. The area around it looked and felt clear of the black creatures and some more familiar wildlife walked around.

The dragon and Rider split up, Nalia going to hunt and Aaron scouting out the top of the mountain. The extra height should give him a decent view of the surrounding area. It was a half hour hike to the top of the mountain. The trees stayed thick all the way up, a stark contrast to the Spine and the Beors. As Aaron neared the top of the mountain, the wildlife thinned out, where mainly birds flew. A small stream meandered its way toward a lake at the bottom of the mountain.

Aaron climbed a tree at the top of the mountain to get an even better look at the area. The forest stretched out in every direction, meeting an ocean on the west side. An island sat a few miles off the coastline. The city, however, took Aaron's breath away. _Nalia,_ he called with his mind, _I think you need to see this. Fly low though, you could be seen._ Nalia acknowledged and flew up to meet her Rider with a deer hanging limp in her mouth. When she saw the city, her dinner rolled right out, but Nalia's mouth stayed open.

The city was enormous. It was nearly three times the size of Ilirea, not counting the sprawl on the island. Large high rise buildings rose on either side of a branching river in the center. Most of the buildings were either tan or white, and all had many glass windows. Despite the obvious differences to structures Alagaësia, the architecture was definitely human in origin. The structure closest to the dragon and Rider stood out from the rest. It resembled a large castle with a large lighthouse structure in the center. There were no defensive walls anywhere around the castle, so it had to look the part just for the aesthetic.

"So what do you think?" Aaron asked his dragon.

 _Whoever they are, they have to be insane to have no walls._ Nalia huffed. _How can they keep out raiders, or any of those beasts on the ground?_

"Whether we like it or not, we are going to be living near them for a while." Aaron looked over the city with a more critical eye. The central part of the sprawl stood the tallest and was arguably the cleanest part of the city. As buildings got farther away from the center, they grew shorter and looked less adorned. One section of the city stood apart from the rest, it's buildings taking a different color. Whether that was by design or grime, Aaron couldn't tell. He decided against entering the city from that side. That section might very well house most of the crime in the city. If he wanted to infiltrate the city though, Aaron knew he had to blend in. There was the very real possibility of running into the language barrier. He'd have to learn that if he wanted to get information out of anyone in the city.

Aaron looked up at the sun. It would set in a few hours, not enough time to make it into the city and back before dark, He turned to look at Nalia. "How about we split up tomorrow. I'll go into the city and you look for the egg."

Nalia shifted uncomfortably. _Are you sure that's the best idea? We could barely take one of those things down._

"We were already tired from making the portal. Besides, you've taken on three dragons larger than you several times before and won. Those things should be no problem."

 _What about you? You'll be in an unknown city with who knows how many hostiles or magic users? I doubt your clothes will blend in either._

"I highly doubt anyone in the city would be as bad as the Forsworn. As for the clothes, I'll stay invisible until I can find some more."

Nalia snorted. _Just don't get into trouble down there. I don't want to have to find you in that mess._

"Who am I? Brom?" The pair chuckled a little at that. Brom was one of their few friends left alive after the Fall. "Let's settle down for the night. I'm hungry."

 _I'm so glad you never turned vegetarian._

"Eh, give a while, It might catch me eventually, and what a dark day that will be." Aaron climbed onto Nalia's back and strapped in. The dragon grabbed her dinner in her mouth and flew off to their cave.

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"Woah," was all Ruby Rose could say as she stared at the evaporating body of a decapitated Nevermore. The ground was littered with branches and leaves of nearby trees. The rest of team RWBY stood a little behind their leader.

"I didn't know any other teams were out this far," Weiss said. "Come to think of it, I can't think of any who could kill one like this."

"No bullet casings, no signs of struggle on the ground." Blake observed. She looked up at the broken canopy. "It's like it was killed in the sky."

Yang gently punched Ruby's shoulder. "Bringing back any memories sis?"

"Yeah, good times," Ruby replied. "We should really get going, shouldn't keep Professor Port waiting for too long."

"I still don't get why he sent us all the way out here to track a pack of Beowolves," the heiress complained.

"Better than taking on those other Nevermores we heard." Blake stated. The rest of the team shuddered at the memory. One was bad enough, they didn't think they could take more than one at once.

The four teammates started to make their way back to Beacon. The forest was unusually quiet, with only the sound of wind to be heard. Still, Ruby was on edge. The quiet either meant there was nothing in the area, or they were being hunted. It was always a good idea to think the latter.

A few clearings after they left the Nevermore, Ruby caught the glint of something under the branches of a tree. She changed direction and walked over to it. "Uh, Rubes, last time I checked Beacon wasn't under a tree," Yang joked.

"I found something over here," Ruby called back. The rest of her team quickly joined her under the tree. "I don't know what it is though." A red ovoid object lay half buried in the ground. Ruby grabbed whatever is was and pulled it out. It was surprisingly warm, which meant it most likely wasn't a normal rock. "Weiss, is this some kind of Dust?"

Weiss grabbed it from Ruby and looked it over for a few seconds. "I don't know what it is, but it isn't Dust."

"It kind of looks like an egg," Yang chipped in.

"What kind of animal would lay an egg of that size? Or color?" Blake asked.

Ruby thought it over for a moment as she took the object back from Weiss. "A dragon?" she eventually joked.

Yang laughed. "If a dragon hatches from that thing, I'll bake you an oven full of cookies."

"Well now I guess I have to keep this thing." Ruby said cheerfully. Blake looked up surprised and Weiss looked taken aback. "Could you go buy some in the city though?"

Yang put her hands on her hips. "Are you trying to tell me something?"

"Hold up!" Weiss interrupted. "You're just going to take some random rock out of the forest because you think it's a _dragon egg?"_

"What am I? Twelve?" Ruby retorted. "It's a one of a kind thing, and it matches my cloak." She flipped the rock over in her hands and looked more of it over. "Who knows? This might be worth something."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Fine, just keep your rock with your stuff." She turned around and saw Blake staring intently off into the distance. "You see something?"

Blake didn't answer for a few seconds. "I thought I saw… Never mind. It's not important. Let's get going."

"Alright, team RWBY!" Ruby called out cheerfully. "We're Beacon bound! For real this time!" She turned east and started walking with the red rock cradled in her arms. Even though her hands were full with holding the egg, Ruby was still ready to grab Crescent Rose and fight off any Grimm that came close. Surprisingly, none came to block her team's path. There weren't even any recent tracks. Something scared the Grimm off.

The team arrived at Beacon just before sunset. Professor Port stood waiting at the easternmost gate. "Ah, team RWBY, right on time," he said cheerfully. "I trust you obtained all the information you needed?"

"Yes sir!" Ruby replied just as cheerfully. She shifted the rock completely to her right arm and took her scroll out with her left. "It's all on here." She started transferring the files.

"Excellent work. Did you run into anything else interesting out there besides that beautiful stone you're carrying?"

"Well," Ruby began but was cut off by Blake.

"We found a decapitated Nevermore," she said deadpan.

"Yeah, that," Ruby mumbled.

Professor Port smoothed his mustache in thought. "Interesting. You didn't put it in that condition did you?"

"No," Ruby said. "It was already decaying when we found it."

"Hmm, you four were the only ones supposed to be out there today. I'll have to talk to Professor Ozpin about this. Anyway, you are dismissed." Port turned around and started walking toward the tower at the center of Beacon. Team RWBY, meanwhile, headed back to their dorm room. They had been out tracking most of the day, and all were about to collapse from exhaustion.

"So," Yang said as they entered their dorm, "any guesses on what killed that Nevermore if it wasn't someone from Beacon?"

"A professional Huntsman most likely," Weiss said.

"I've read that territorial disputes between Nevermore can get pretty serious," Blake pitched in.

"That would explain it being killed in the air," Weiss agreed.

"Could have been the mother of that egg," Yang jabbed at Ruby.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "It's a rock Yang, nothing could lay an egg like this."

"Not even a dragon?" Yang received a pillow to the face for that last one. "Come on, admit it! That would be so cool!"

"Yes it would, but dragons aren't real." Ruby looked at Yang. The look on her face said it all. "I'm not going to hear the end of this for a while, am I?"

Yang cocked her head to the side, a large smile forming on her face, "Nope."

Ruby sighed. "I should have kept my mouth shut," she mumbled. She looked over at Weiss and her shared dresser. Her side should be big enough to hold the rock. She set it down on top, then took out her pajamas from the dresser. As she was turning around, Ruby thought she rock move. She looked closely at it for a few seconds then shrugged. She must have bumped the dresser.

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' **Protagonist enters another world through a portal' cliché (ding!). Review if you liked it, or didn't. I need** _ **some**_ **criticism every once and a while.**


	2. Hatching

**This is where I knew I had started something beautiful. Again, this has been modified and re-uploaded from the original.**

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Ruby woke in the middle of the night. Something was rolling around. She wasn't one to wake up to sounds in the middle of the night because of Yang's snoring. Then again, Weiss did make Yang take something starting the second week of classes to stop that. Ruby lifted her head and groggily looked through half lidded eyes around her room, but couldn't see much past the bedsheet above her. Whatever was making the noise stopped. Ruby let her head fall back to the pillow.

Just as she felt she was returning to her dream about being 'attacked' by a horde of kittens and puppies, the sound started up again, this time a lot louder. Ruby groaned and buried her head beneath her pillow. They just _had_ to have party teams on all sides. Didn't they know the value of rest on the battlefield? It might as well be the same thing in school at points. It stopped again a short while later. _I swear, if they start whatever it is again…_

Of course, it started up again immediately after. Ruby groaned and lifted the pillow off her head. She listened in closely to figure out who to report to the RAs. It would _so_ great seeing CRDL being scolded by people a lot smaller than them, and possibly Goodwitch on top of that. Ruby might have to bring out the popcorn.

But as she was waking up, she noticed something. It was too clear to be coming through the walls or ceiling. A few thunks against what sounded like a wall confirmed it.

There was something in the room.

Ruby pushed herself off the bed to sit up. She searched the room again for anything that could be making a sound like that. In the faint moonlight, she couldn't see much. Even Yang was shifting in her sleep, and she was usually dead to the world until her obnoxious alarm rang. Ruby traced the sound back to near the foot of her bed where hers and Weiss' shared dresser stood. She grimaced. Something was in or on her clothes.

Ruby swung her legs off her bed and dropped to the floor. She tried to land as quietly as possible so she wouldn't wake up Weiss. That failed. Weiss sat up in her bed, and her faint glare tore into Ruby. "What do you think you're doing?" Her voice was as cold as her nickname.

"Shh." Ruby brought a finger to her lips, then pointed at the dresser. As she did, a high pitched squeak came from the general direction. Ruby grimaced. She only knew of one thing to make that kind of noise, and there weren't any mouse traps around to take care of it.

Slight movement caught Ruby's eye. The stone she found the day before shook back and forth with surprising ferocity. What was that rat doing? The stone hit the wall a few more times, making both Blake and Yang groan in her beds. After a particularly violent shake, the stone rolled off the dresser.

Yang and Blake jerked awake in their beds, and the former rolled over. "What's with the early morning wakeup call?"

"There's something besides us that's alive in here." Weiss rose from her bed and she stared right at the dresser.

"Mosquitos don't make that kind of noise," Yang whined. Another squeak filled the room, this one sounded physically lower for whatever reason. "Okay, that's not a bug." Yang sounded wide awake. "Hey Blake-"

"Don't say anything," Blake scolded. She sat up in her bed and looked to the area. "I'm not seeing it."

"Lights are going on," Ruby called. She crossed the room and flipped the light switch. The expected pained moans came from her three teammates while Ruby resisted. She turned to the dresser and looked it over. Weiss made sure the space was clean before the trip out to the Emerald Forest. Any mess the rat would have made should have stuck out like a sore thumb. There was nothing, not even any dust.

"What?" Ruby looked to the wall the dresser was pressed up against, then at the stone on the floor, then back again. Wouldn't anything hitting the other side of the wall make her bed swing? Another squeak, and Ruby looked directly at the source. The stone started shaking on its own, with nothing around it. "Uh, guys? I don't think we have a rat problem."

Yang dropped from her bed and she stared openly at the stone. "Please tell me we didn't pick up a time bomb or something."

Weiss took a step back. "Way to put that thought in my head."

The stone shook faster than ever before and a crack appeared in its side. Everyone took a step back that time. "Well Yang," Blake said, "looks like you were right about that thing being an egg."

Yang chuckled with little humor. "For once I'm not sure being right was the best thing." The cracks spread across the surface of the stone, er, egg, if that's what it was. A piece fell out, followed by the loudest squeak yet. A single white claw stuck out of the egg and scratched at the surface. More pieces were pushed out and a tiny red paw emerged from the egg. With new leverage, the paw pushed more pieces out of the way. An angled head pushed its way out of the hole and gave another loud squeak. Another paw joined the first and the head and helped widen the hole.

With one last effort, the creature pushed forward and the egg broke open. It stumbled free of the shell. Some sort of goop covered its scales and trailed across the floor. Its tail looked slightly too long for its stocky body. Skeletal, translucent red wings rose on either side of its back.

Ruby gasped and looked up. Her whole team exchanged looks. "Did…this just happen?" Weiss asked.

"You mean, what…" Blake looked down at the animal, "I have to assume is a dragon, just hatched on our floor? Yeah. That happened."

Ruby returned her eyes to the dragon…hatchling she thought they were called. It slowly spun in a circle, looking up at all the girls around it, wagging its tail all the way. When it reached Ruby, it raised its wings and arched it's back. A strange purr escaped its throat.

"It's. So. Cute!" Ruby brought her fists up to her cheeks as she beamed down at the cutie.

"Looks like I owe you some cookies Ruby," Yang said while scratching her head. "Who'd have thought I'd have to dig up mom's old recipe."

Ruby knelt down in front of the hatchling. "Hey there little guy," she said as the reached out with her left hand to pet it.

Lightning shot up her arm. She gasped and her eyes bulged. It felt like she was being burnt and frozen at the same time. She fell into the corner of the room. Her limbs twitched around without her command. Somewhere in the pain, someone called her name. She was too busy trying not to scream to care who. She was being torn apart from the inside out.

Just when she thought she'd pass out from the pain, it stopped. Ruby's shoulders slumped and her head tilted forward. "Ow," she moaned. She opened her eyes she didn't realize she closed. Water blocked her view, so she blinked a few times to clear them.

From nowhere, Ruby felt panic rising in her. She looked around the room and saw Yang arming Ember Celica by her bed. "Yang? W…what are you doing?"

Yang turned to Ruby, her eyes red. "Ruby, back away from the wall."

"What?" Ruby looked between Weiss and Blake. "What's going on?"

"That _thing_ attacked you!" Weiss pointed at Ruby's left arm.

Ruby snapped her head to the area. The hatchling was curled up behind her arm. She shook terribly and stared at Yang with wide eyes. She was terrified…Why did Ruby _know_ she was terrified? Ruby reached over with her right hand and touched the hatchling's snout. Her three teammates made to jump forward, but held back. The film of egg fluid on the hatchling's head was warm and sticky. With a whimper, the poor baby dragon pushed her head into Ruby's hand.

"I think that was a one-time thing." Ruby ran her hand along the side of the hatchling's head. Some of the panic from earlier disappeared…why was she scared? Yang was _protecting_ her, not fighting her.

"So what if it was a one-time thing!" Yang pointed at the hatchling. "That _thing_ attacked you! What's stopping it from doing it again?"

The panic grew again. Ruby looked to the hatchling. She started shaking even more. The hatchling looked up at Ruby. Something touched the girl's mind…how was that even possible? Was…was the panic coming from the dragon?

Ruby stuck a hand out toward her sister. "Yang, you need to calm down. You're scaring her."

 _"I'm_ scaring _her? She_ attacked _you!"_ Yang blinked and narrowed her eyes. "Her?"

"Better than calling her it."

"Are you defending it?"

"Yang! Use your head!" Ruby pled. "You saw her before. She was wagging her tail like a puppy. She was happy! Now look at her." Ruby looked back at the hatchling. Her little red eyes stared up at Ruby. A cute little whimper came from her throat, kind of like Zwei as a puppy. Ruby caressed the hatchling's head. "I don't think she meant to do it."

Ruby looked back up at her sister. Yang's eyes switched back to their normal lilac. She sighed. "Ruby, I'm glad you're alright, but that thing hurt you! You looked like you were having a seizure!"

Another whimper came from Ruby's side. She looked down at the hatchling. She felt sorry for her…or did the hatchling feel sorry for Ruby? Though it hurt her head to think about it, Ruby thought it was the latter. "I _know_ she didn't mean it."

Yang's arms shook. She was fighting herself. "Ruby…"

"Yang, please put your gauntlets down." Ruby stuck a hand out toward her sister while the other covered the hatchling.

Yang hesitated, then sighed and deactivated Ember Celica, taking the two gauntlets off. Ruby let her shoulders fall, and she felt some of the tension leave the room. Blake and Weiss exchanged nervous glances, but stayed silent.

The hatchling stopped shaking and slowly climbed onto Ruby's lap. She stayed close to Ruby's stomach and whimpered up at Yang. Yang shot a glare at her. The hatchling squeaked and climbed up to Ruby's shoulder. The poor girl started to shake and whimper again. Ruby reached up with her opposite hand and began to pet the trembling dragon, ignoring the egg fluid. "You don't need to be scared," she whispered. "No one's going to hurt you, you're with friends."

Ruby felt some of the fear fade away. These…extra emotions had to be coming from the hatchling. The hatchling pulled her head back and locked her tiny red eye's with Ruby's. She whimpered again and rubbed her face against Ruby's check. The other three people in the room recoiled, and Yang completely turned away.

The baby dragon pulled her head away and licked Ruby's cheek. She then freed herself from Ruby's arms and walked off her lap. The hatchling sniffed the air and squeaked a few times. Ruby got another feeling that definitely couldn't be her at that time of night. "I think she's hungry."

All humans turned to the sole Faunus in the room. "Why are you all looking at me?" Blake asked.

"We all know you have a tuna stash, Blake." Yang threw a glance at the hatchling, then faced her bed again.

Blake's bow tilted backward, then she turned to hers and Yang's dresser and pulled out the top drawer. She pulled out several stacks of clothes before grabbing a large can of tuna. "You guys owe me."

The hatchling stared up at Blake with her head cocked. Blake pulled the tab on the can. Almost instantly, the hatchling raised her wings and squeaked happily. After staring down for a second, Blake slowly set the can down on the floor. The hungry hatchling waited until Blake's hand pulled away before pouncing on the food. She buried her face in the fish and didn't pull her snout out until the can was clean. A cute burp later, she walked forward and rubbed her side against Blake's legs. She looked up at Blake and whimpered again.

The corners of Blake's lips raised. "That's not fair." She took another can from the drawer and opened it as well. Once again, the baby dragon waited until Blake's hand left before diving in.

Ruby felt a smile building on her own face. Something about watching the hatchling eat made her feel warm inside, and not just because it felt like her stomach was filling up without eating anything. It felt…right.

Weiss pointed at the hatchling, then at Ruby, and back again. "But, how? Is this the same dragon what was hiding behind you?"

"Yep." Ruby smiled up at her partner. "I guess it's a baby thing. Or a…dragon thing."

Another squeak caught Ruby's attention. It looked like the cutie was begging for more food from Blake. "Hungry little thing, aren't you?" Blake asked. She received another squeak in response.

Ruby allowed herself a small laugh, then she looked up at her sister. Yang was looking at the hatchling through the side of her eye. A grimace formed on her lips, but it didn't look like it was aimed at the hatchling. "Yang? Something wrong?" Ruby finally pushed herself off the floor and walked to her sister's side.

Yang turned her head halfway to meet Ruby, but still couldn't meet Ruby's eyes. "I'm sorry, it—she hurt you. I haven't seen you in that much pain since you broke your arm before Signal." She paused and looked at the hatchling on the floor. The cutie had rolled onto her back and Weiss rubbed her belly, dragging out the same purr from before. Yang winced. "Where was this right when she hatched? Why'd she hurt you?" She shook her head and finally met Ruby's gaze. "She hurt you. I can't get that out of my head. The rest of you may be convinced, but I'm not."

Ruby dipped her head. "Give her a chance? Like Weiss and Blake? Does that look like the face of evil?" She gestured at the hatchling, who was now eating out of yet another can of tuna while Weiss scratched her back.

"No." Yang shook her head. "But…"

"Please?" Ruby put on the best puppy dog face she could manage.

Yang sighed. "Blake's right. This isn't fair." She walked toward where the cutie was eating and knelt down. The hatchling looked at Yang and squeaked. She jumped, then hid behind Weiss' legs. Yang stuck an arm out. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

The hatchling stuck her head out from behind Weiss' legs. She sniffed the air and flicked her tongue out. She looked up at Ruby as if asking if it was safe. "It's okay," Ruby soothed. "She's nice when you get to know her."

The cutie left the shield provided by Weiss' legs. She slowly walked toward Yang's outstretched hand and sniffed it. A hum exploded out her throat and she pressed her head into Yang's hand.

That got a smile out of Yang. "Ya know, for an animal with scales, you sure are soft." The hatchling continued to purr as she pushed her body against the hand. "I guess she forgives easily."

"I think she gets that from me." Ruby gazed down at the baby dragon.

"Are you saying you've rubbed off on her?" Weiss asked. "Your happiness is infectious, but it can't win over someone in less than twenty minutes."

"It's not that, it's…" Ruby bit her lip. Should she tell them? She wasn't even sure if she was right about what was going on. "I _think_ I can feel her emotions, and if that's true, I'm guessing she can feel mine.

The rest of her team looked at Ruby like she suddenly had two heads. "Did you hit your head when you fell?" Weiss asked.

"I don't know how to describe it," Ruby shook her head, "but when she was hiding behind me, I was scared of Yang." Said person looked up at Ruby like she'd been stabbed in the chest. "But that disappeared as soon as she hugged me." The hatchling looked up at Ruby and cocked her head.

A knock on the door made everyone in the room jump. "Uh guys, everything okay in there?" Jaune asked. "We heard yelling and-"

"We're fine, Jaune," Ruby paused as she thought it over. Should she say something now, or save it. "I just…fell out of bed." _That's not going to work._

"Oh, well, if that's it, uh, good night." Footsteps on the other side of the door signaled Jaune's departure.

Weiss brought a hand to her face. "How did he believe that?"

"I thought you would have told him," Blake said.

Ruby shrugged. "Maybe when we know what's going on. And," she looked down at the cutie, "I don't want to overwhelm her. And it's kind of a hard thing to explain late at night, and through a door."

The hatchling squeaked for attention again. Everyone looked down at her. She was looking up at Blake with those same wide eyes from before. Blake held her arms up in surrender. "I'm sorry, that's all I had." The hatchling hung her head and whimpered. She walked over to Ruby's side and looked up. When she met Ruby's eyes, her own brightened and her wings raised. She hummed and ran her side against Ruby's legs.

Ruby knelt down and pet her dragon, ignoring the egg fluid still that still coated the scales. "Ah well, looks like we're going to have to make another stop in Vale." She froze in place. "Oh. How are we going to explain that to dad?"

"I could sneak some things out of the cafeteria," Blake offered. "I have…experience."

"Wha…oh." Ruby flicked her eyes to Weiss. The heiress shot Blake a look, but shook it off. "If we can do this without breaking any rules, I'll take it."

"What about breaking dad's rules?" Yang asked with a slight smirk.

"I'm more scared of professor Goodwitch than dad." Yang gave a sideways nod, but Ruby froze again. "Aaand we've been making enough noise to wake up JNPR." She looked at the walls that separated them from other teams. The tables had turned from when she originally woke up. "That's not good."

The rest of the team exchanged glances. Yang shrugged. "Ah well. Not like we can make it any worse."

"So what are you going to name her?" Weiss asked suddenly.

Ruby blinked at her partner. "I…hadn't thought about it. Why'd you ask?"

"I, uh, well, it appears you're going to keep her around for a while. I figured to would be a good idea to give her a name."

"You like her." Ruby smirked.

"Well what's not to like?" Weiss knelt down next to the hatchling and stoked her back. "She's cute, she's a cuddler, she's…ahh!" She leaned forward and rubbed her nose against the baby dragon's snout. The hatchling stuck her tongue out and liked Weiss' nose.

Ruby took a step back and watched her partner play with the hatchling. The cutie looked up at Ruby, then leaned into Weiss' scratches. Weiss was saying various shades of red at the dragon. Ruby tried to come up with ones herself. The hatchling was a slightly dark shade of red, so that threw out all other colors out the window. There was also the possibility that her dragon was male, with no visible physical indicators one way or the other. The name had to fit both just in case.

After a while, she though she came up with one that Weiss hadn't said. Ruby knelt down by the hatchling. The cutie squeaked and jumped out of Weiss' grip and onto Ruby's knee. She looked up and tried to lick Ruby's face. "Hey, how would you like being called Cerise?"

The dragon hummed happily and pressed her snout against Ruby's nose. Ruby pet Cerise a few times, then saw something on her hand. Not only was it covered with the same egg fluid as Cerise' scales and wings, but a silvery-white mark had appeared in the center of her hand, roughly where Cerise first touched it. Even on her pale skin, it stuck out like a sore thumb. "Oh. That's different."

"Something wrong, Ruby?" Weiss asked.

"I may need to borrow some light gloves tomorrow." Ruby turned her palm to her teammates.

All three of them looked closely at it. "Did she do that to you?" Yang asked. She narrowed her eyes at Cerise.

"I'm guessing so." Ruby put herself slightly in between Yang and Cerise. "If she did, she didn't mean it." For whatever reason, Cerise whimpered and laid her head across Ruby's leg. "I don't even feel it."

Yang's eyes flicked to Ruby and they softened. "If you say so." She didn't sound convinced.

Ruby returned her attention to Cerise. "How does having your first bath sound?" The hatchling lifted her head and hummed happily. "I'll take that as a yes." Ruby scooped Cerise up and walked into the team's bathroom. She set the hatchling down on the counter top before flicking on the lights. Cerise stared up at the light and her wings raised. Ruby smiled at the sight before pulling the pin behind one of the facets and turned it on. She also took Yang's towel from where it hung on the wall and tossed it back into the room for the others to wipe the egg goop off themselves.

Cerise stared at the running water with her head cocked. "Just let me know if it's a good temperature." Ruby kept her hand on the temperature control as Cerise dipped a foot in. The hatchling hummed and jumped into the sink. She ran her back under the falling water like it was a shower. Maybe that would have worked on its own too.

Ruby turned off the water, much to Cerise' disappointment, and grabbed her washcloth. "Sorry. Don't want it to overflow." She started wiping down her dragon's back. "Where'd you come from anyway? There aren't any dragons around here. I didn't even know you existed." Cerise looked up to Ruby and cocked her head. "You're supposed to be legends, unless you count the Grimm variations, but you're obviously not a Grimm."

Ruby heard beds creaking behind her. She turned her head back to the room and saw it go dark. Cerise whimpered again. Ruby looked back to her dragon. "Afraid of the dark?" Cerise didn't make another sound, she just looked roughly toward where Yang's bed was. "Afraid of Yang?" Cerise bobbed her head.

"Oh." Ruby set the washcloth down and cupped Cerise head in her hands. "I told you before, Yang's nice. Her first impressions are kind of all over the place. She's my sister, and I love her to death. I trust her, and she trusts me. Just act all cute like this, and she'll fall for you by bedtime tomorrow."

Cerise hummed, then her eyes half lidded. She yawned without getting any of her bathwater in her mouth. "Tired?" Ruby pulled Cerise out of the sink and pulled the pin up again. She turned on the facet again and ran her hands through to get them nice and wet. Then she slightly scrubbed all of the places where the egg fluid stuck around. With that done, she grabbed her towel and wiped Cerise and herself down.

With both of them dry enough, Ruby turned off the bathroom light, waited a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, and walked back into the main room. Ruby moved to place Cerise down, but her dragon clutched on. She whimpered and looked up at Ruby, eyes pleading. "You want to stay with me?" The hatchling nodded frantically. Ruby smiled. "Of course."

Ruby reached up and placed her on the top bunk. Ruby followed soon after and lay down in her normal spot. She looked around the dark room at her teammates. As soon as her eyes fell on Yang, her sister rolled over. Her shoulders slumped. Yang would come around. She laid back on her pillow and pulled the covers over herself. Right before Ruby closed her eyes Cerise lay down, snuggling her right arm. "Good night Cerise," She whispered, then fell asleep, with her dragon sleeping soundly beside her.

* * *

 **True fact: the original inspiration for this fic was 'How can I make Ruby cuter…Baby dragon!' Hope I have your attention now. Enjoy the ride!**


	3. Discoveries

**I think I have a problem. I'm losing sleep over what major events I'm going to put in later chapters, and when I can sleep, I'm dreaming** _ **I'm**_ **a dragon Rider using Crescent Rose. Something tells me this isn't normal.**

 **Anyway, a few people have asked about giving the dragons use of aura and semblances. While I admit this would be cool, I'm worried that they would seem more overpowered than they already are. If they do get semblances, they won't be as overt as glyphs or super speed.**

 **I've figured out (or rather remembered) where in RWBY's timeline this takes place. It takes place after Volume one, but still in the first semester, like two weeks before all exams are over with. That will give Cerise enough time to grow before she sees any real action.**

* * *

Aaron looked at the sprawling city before him. His nervousness about going into the strange place grew by the second. There were so many unknowns. He barely knew any words in Dwarvish, what if the people here spoke a language that didn't exist in Alagaësia? He knew he had to blend in, so that meant getting the right kind of clothes and acting like the majority of people on the street. Aaron's undercover training might as well not exist. Then again, he always did prefer learning on the job.

Nalia crawled up next to her Rider. _I feel your doubts about going into to city,_ she said. _Are you sure you don't want to search for the egg with me?_

"I'm sure," Aaron replied. "We need to know who we'll be living with. We don't know if they'll like having a dragon sleeping just outside their walls."

 _They don't have any walls._ Nalia chuckled at her own joke.

Aaron gave his dragon a playful shove. "You know what I mean. We don't want them storming this mountain to take us out." He shook his head and his tone turned serious. "We have to protect the remaining eggs. I know we'll find the other. We have to."

Nalia looked her bond-mate in the eyes. _Be careful down there. Don't attract attention to yourself, and please, don't add any more scars._

Aaron placed a hand on his dragon's snout. "If I had reason to, by definition I'd be attracting attention. I'm more worried about you and those creatures." He stood up and shouldered his makeshift pack and buckled on his sword. "I'll be back before sundown, hopefully with some useful information. I'll contact you when I'm in the city." With that, the Rider and dragon separated on their respective missions.

Aaron hiked down the mountain and through the forest like he had many times in Alagaësia. The normal wildlife he'd see back home became less and less prominent as he walked. The bottom of the mountain just felt evil. He grabbed his sword and pulled it a few inches from its scabbard. Though he didn't see anything through most of his hike, a few black creatures popped in and out, but they didn't seem to notice him.

An hour into the hike, Aaron found a well-worn trail leading toward the city. He quickly cast an invisibility spell on himself and proceeded to the city. A few other people walked the trail and all of them were armed, with swords or otherwise. A couple carried black, rectangular things that had a hole in the front of them. The men with them carried them like one would a bow while hunting.

Eventually the tree line started to thin out, as did the evil feeling of the forest. The tall buildings seen from the mountain started peaking over the remaining trees. Aaron heard strange whirring noises getting louder with each step. He didn't know of anything that could make that kind of noise, and there were a lot of things making it. The Rider made a mental note to figure out what made it.

The trail suddenly converged into a full-fledged road and houses mixed in with the trees. Strange metal, wheeled contraptions sat outside or even inside many of the houses. No people walked down the center of the black, paved road, only on slightly raised gray sections, which struck Aaron as strange. In every city he'd been in every inch of the road was used by people. _Why have such a wide road if most of it is unused?_ he thought to himself.

Aaron's answer wasn't long in coming. Another whirring noise started behind him and rapidly increased in volume. He turned around and saw one of the metal machines roll down the right side of the black section almost as fast as a horse at full gallop. A person sat inside holding another wheel. A light on its right side started flashing as it passed Aaron. The vehicle slowed down and turned a corner.

 _Nalia,_ Aaron called out with his mind. _They have wagons that can move by themselves here._

The dragon took a few seconds to respond. _It seems there are magic users here after all if they can do that._

Aaron stretched his mind out to a stationary carriage to gauge the amount of magic in it. He found none, so he searched one that was moving. Still, he only felt person inside the carriage, and he wasn't a magician. _These things aren't magical, and they have no life of their own. They might as well be rocks._

Surprise radiated off Nalia. _Is that even possible?_

 _Unless there was something in the water this morning, I'm looking at it._

 _If that is the kind of transportation they have, I shudder to think of their weapons._

Aaron thought back to the travelers he saw on the trail. _I've seen some of them. They still use weapons that we've seen before, along with some black rectangle thing that I think can be used in place of a bow. Still, if it comes to a fight, my wards should hold._ Aaron paused. _Anything on your end yet?_

Nalia mentally sighed. _Nothing yet, not even any more of those winged creatures. They seemed eager enough to attack us yesterday, I wonder what happened._

 _No news is good news. Keep looking, it's out there somewhere. I'll contact you again when I'm presentable in this city._ Aaron broke the connection and turned his eyes to the people who lived in the area. If he wasn't invisible, he'd stick out like a sore thumb. More often than not, the people were exceptionally pale. Only a few had any tan color to them at all, but enough so Aaron didn't have to change his complexion. Men wore a wide range of clothing, from colorful shorts that stopped at the knee to heavy black jerkins with pieces of cloth tied around their necks. Women wore similar casual clothing as the men, but donned more familiar dresses for presumably formal events. Aaron frowned. He didn't have any of the local currency to get appropriate clothing for this city. Luckily, all cities were full of pickpockets. He'd just 'liberate' some of that currency, since fining the rightful owners would be nearly impossible.

The fact that random people carried weapons crossed all demographics in the area. Almost none of them looked like soldiers. Aaron couldn't place a pattern. _This place must be in troubled times if so many take weapons everywhere,_ he thought.

Buildings got bigger as he moved near the center of the city. Aaron listened in on a few conversations, and surprisingly they spoke the same language. The writing on the buildings showed the same thing. He counted his lucky stars and pressed onward.

Aaron walked invisibly down a particularly busy street, searching with his mind for pickpockets. He focused in on a girl with green hair who seemed very confident with her skills. Aaron decided to knock her down a few notches. Getting up close, he cast a spell so the pickpocket would feel nothing, then pulled several wallets out of her own pocket.

Aaron quickly added the wallets to his invisibility spell and walked down a side alley. He couldn't believe he was back to his old childhood habit. In order to survive on the streets of Teirm, he had to steal money and food. He never liked it, but it was necessary until his adopted parents took him in. The Rider was appalled how easy it came back to him, and how easy it was with magic.

When he was sure he was alone and couldn't be seen, Aaron ended his invisibility spell to inspect the wallets. None of them felt particularly heavy, and all were less than an inch thick. He opened one of them and was instantly confused. Instead of the expected coin, several rigid rectangles of an unknown material lay in various sleeves. Each sleeve had a different color in it, presumably each with different values. The rest of the wallets had the same things in them. He sighed and recast his invisibility spell. While he had no idea how much he carried, he could always spy on businesses to see payment take place.

Aaron returned to the street and searched for a clothing shop, not that it was a hard task. They were everywhere. He eventually chose one called Old Blue and followed a group in so he didn't have to use the doors himself. The store was huge compared to any in Alagaësia. The size of half of the men's section at Old Blue was the size of a normal shop back home. Aaron was at least glad he got some choices.

Still, Aaron chose clothing that most other people wore; some blue trousers called 'jeans,' white socks and shoes, and a plain blue tunic. He put them all in his already invisible pack, and wandered around the store to see if there was anything else was needed to complete his disguise. A green jerkin with white strips on the sleeve and under the armpits caught his eye. He picked that up as well. Aaron also picked up a black backpack, a green cap, blue 'sunglasses,' and a pair of white gloves to keep his gedwëy ignasia hidden from view. He assumed the numbers above the pieces of clothing were the prices.

At the front of the store, Aaron spied several people pay for their clothes for several minutes to figure out how much each of the 'Lien' cards was worth. Eventually he caught a pattern and grabbed the hundred and fifty 'Lien' needed to pay for everything. He slipped the cards into the drawer the salesperson used on the next customer. The process was a lot quicker than any he knew of.

He tried following someone out the doors, but as soon as he stepped between two tall, metal rectangles, something made a loud screeching noise. Aaron froze in place, in fear of being discovered. Instead one of the people who was receiving money waved the person Aaron was following through. "The system's been yelling all day," the woman said. "You're good."

With whatever that was out of the way, Aaron left the building behind another group. As he walked down the street, he felt something wet on his right arm. Was something he 'bought' wet in some way? He walked behind another building and ended his invisibility spell. He instantly saw a black ink stain that covered most of the jerkin. _What? Where did this come from?_ He flipped the jerkin over and saw a circular tan button on the back. The mess appeared to be coming from that. "Jierda." The button broke off, spilling out even more ink. Aaron jumped back to avoid being caught in the splash. Why would they ruin a new jerkin like that? Aaron shook his head. It was probably something the locals did to prevent theft.

Aaron held a hand over the mess and started chanting in the Ancient Language. The spell he was using worked for blood, and so far it was working on the ink. It took a while, but the black mess was removed from the jerkin. He returned his attention to his other new clothes to see if any of them had been soiled. Luckily, one the jerkin caught any of the mess. He quickly changed into his new outfit, hoping no one would come down the alley. Once finished, he looked at his reflection from a puddle on the ground. Even with his sword at his side, he thought that his appearance suited the city. He nodded to himself and walked back to the busy street.

No one seemed to notice Aaron, and he was perfectly fine with that. He roamed the streets looking at all the people and buildings, keeping passive on the outside and gasping in wonder on the inside. All the buildings, vehicles, and food seemed extraordinary. No Alagaësian city would look like this for many hundreds of years. He had only seen humans in this city. Could they have built all of this themselves? _Without_ magic?

In his visual tour of the city, Aaron accidentally bumped into someone. "Hey, watch it!" the guy said, then turned and walked away. Aaron looked after the man and was shocked to see a long tail come out of his trousers. He looked around again, and for the first time noticed animalistic features on many of the people in the city, mainly antlers, ears, and tails. Aaron tried not to stare at people as he tried to figure out if these people were elves or not. He knew some elves transformed their appearance to animals which they thought most beautiful, but he never got the appeal. On closer inspection, however, these people were not elves, and they certainly weren't entirely human.

Aaron extended his mind to contact his dragon. _Find anything yet Nalia?_

 _No,_ she sighed. _I've searched every place we flew over yesterday and everywhere within a few hundred feet of that. There do seem to be a few sets of human footprints though._

 _You think someone took it?_

 _I think we have to consider the possibility. I'll keep searching though. There has to be clue somewhere._ Nalia pulled away, leaving Aaron alone in his head. He continued down the street and considered stretching his mind out to find out if someone in the city took the egg. It would be faster than looking door to door, but would also tip off any magicians that could prove hostile. The Rider shook his head in defeat. Either option left him open to hostilities, something he couldn't deal with while trying to keep a low profile.

Aaron worked over his problem so much he didn't notice the group of girls that came around the corner in front of him. He bumped forcibly into one of them and knocked her to the ground. The impact snapped him out of his trance, and he was horrified about what he did, and the reactions that were sure to come his way. "I'm sorry! My fault!" he said as he stuck out a hand to help the girl up. "I should have been paying more attention."

"You're right you should have been paying attention," the white haired member of the group snapped. "You could have knocked her right into traffic!" The two other girls still standing seemed taken aback by the outburst.

"Weiss, I'm okay," the girl on the ground said as she and Aaron grabbed each other's gloved hands. He pulled the girl to her feet and got a good look at her. She looked to be about his age. Her hair was mainly black with some red accent. Silver eyes stared back. Her clothes consisted of a strange black dress and a red cloak around her shoulders. "It was an accident."

The one identified as Weiss stood down but still glared at Aaron. To avoid further confrontation he just walked down the street before anyone else could say anything. Still he looked back at the girl he knocked down with interest. _There's something different about that girl…  
_

* * *

"There's something different about that guy," Ruby said aloud.

"I'll say!" Weiss spat. "He completely bowled you over!"

"Weiss, calm down," Blake said. "I could tell he was having a bad day."

"And how, pray tell do you know that?"

"He was distracted enough to run right into Ruby, he spoke quickly, and he walked off in a hurry in the same direction."

"That is still no excuse to make other people's days worse."

"Don't judge Weiss, you never know what people are going through."

"What did you mean by different?" Yang chipped in to change the subject.

Ruby shrugged. "I don't really know, I just have a weird feeling that's all."

A large smile broke onto Yang's face. "Aww, my little sister has a crush on a guy she doesn't even know."

Ruby twirled around and punched Yang in the shoulder. "I do not! It's something else, it's…" she sighed. She had no idea how to describe it.

"You think it has something to do with you-know-who?" Blake asked.

"Probably? It was in my head whatever it was." The four girls continued walking towards the commercial district talking about random things but avoided talking about Cerise at Ruby's insistence. She didn't want news of her dragon getting out. If it was anything like Weiss said it could be, Ruby wouldn't be able to leave Beacon without having a camera directed at her or Cerise. It pained the girl to leave her dragon cooped up in their dorm all alone, but she didn't trust anyone outside her team with the dragon's well-being. Well, maybe JNPR, but Nora couldn't keep a secret to save her life. Ozpin...maybe. Yang would have stayed behind, but she said she had to pick up something in the city that day.

The team split up, with Weiss and Yang heading further into the city to shop for Dust, clothes, and other necessities, and Ruby and Blake stopping at the Vale library to find some books on dragons. Ruby didn't know how to take care if her dragon in the long term, and even urban legends would help. Blake was there to help in the research and find the books that would most likely help.

There were plenty of books about dragons, but mainly narratives that took a while to find the information they were looking for. There were a few info books about them, but even then their information was conflicted. It seemed to be a fifty-fifty split on whether the book looked at dragons in a friendly light or as evil as Grimm. Also, it was a toss up on whether dragon scales were worth as much as gold or as little as paper. Still, none explained the mark on Ruby's hand or the intrusions on her mind.

After a few hours the two teammates figured they'd gotten all they could get from the books provided. Ruby and Blake returned all the books to their places and made for the door. Just as they were about to leave, the guy that knocked Ruby over opened the door. He froze when he saw the girls, then quickly turned for the history section. Ruby stared after him as she left the library. Something was tugging at the corner of her mind, the same thing that happened when they first met. "What is it about that guy?" she whispered to herself. If Blake heard, she didn't let on.

Their next stop was the local Hi Dee to hopefully get enough food to feed Cerise for the week. Ruby hoped the baby dragon ate more than just meat, what with Grimm attacks on farms growing more frequent and driving up the cost, and hers and Yang's emergency credit card being directly linked to thier dad's account. She knew she couldn't keep Cerise locked up forever, but she was still so little. There wouldn't be much stopping a fox trying to make a snack of her, let alone a gray wolf, or worse.

Still, meat was the only option that Ruby knew her dragon ate. Blake and she loaded up on fish, chicken, beef, and a few other things that they thought a dragon would like. Ruby even picked up a carton of strawberries, reasoning if she liked them so much, so would her dragon. If not, she got them. Blake just rolled her eyes while failing to hide a smile.

The team regrouped on the road back to Beacon. Everyone had both their hands full except Yang who only carried one unmarked bag. Ruby and Blake informed the other two about what they learned about taking care of the dragon, even though they had no idea if their information was accurate. Weiss simply laid out how uneventful Yang's and her trip was.

Yang was unusually silent through the walk back to Beacon. Ruby thought she saw an occasional smirk on her sister's face through the walk, but she had no idea what caused it. A light gust of wind blew past the group and carried a distinctive smell with it. Ruby snapped her head around to the bag Yang carried. "You didn't," she gasped.

Yang's shoulders slumped and she fake moaned, yet the smile gave her away. "It was supposed to be a surprise, dang wind." She pulled out a box of cookies from Ruby's favorite bakery in town. "Since I can't bake and I don't exactly have easy access to an oven, I figured I'd get you the next best thing."

Only the grocery bags Ruby carried kept her from jumping with joy. She settled with saying, "Yang, you're the best!"

Yang's smile grew on her face. "I am aren't I?" Suddenly she blinked a few times and she rubbed her head like she had a massive headache. "Uh, Ruby, I think I believe you about Cerise about being in your head now."

"What?" Ruby looked at her sister in confusion.

"I have to agree with Yang on this one," Weiss said while rubbing her own head. "Your overreactions to things can be infectious, but I actually _felt_ it that time."

Ruby looked at Blake for a final confirmation. She just nodded.

Ruby took a few steps backward, unsure of what to say or do. She looked at her friends to see if she could get any support. Yang looked genuinely concerned while Weiss and Blake looked curious more than anything. Ruby meanwhile stood terrified. Where was this coming from? How'd it start? Then a worse thought came to her head and she looked back to the city. "How far did it go?" she whispered.

Yang put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "We'll figure this out, like we always do. Right now, we should get you back to Beacon. Less people will ask questions there." She turned and started back toward the school. "Hopefully."

The rest of the walk continued in silence, nobody wanting to incite another episode and Ruby trying to calm herself down. If she could do that, what else could she do? Could she read minds? Could she influence what other people thought? Ruby shook her head. She was excited yet terrified at the same time. It was too much to handle at once.

Could her little Cerise be behind all this?

Ruby was so caught up in her own thoughts she didn't even realize she made it back to Beacon. She looked around at other students walking around and they didn't act like anything different had happened. No one paid team RWBY any mind as they passed through campus, not even team JNPR who were studying for the upcoming exams. Ruby released a sigh of relief when they reached their room.

Yang opened the door and the rest of the team rushed right in. Ruby practically dropped her bags by the door and searched the room for her dragon. "Cerise! We're back!" Ruby called as the door closed. She heard a squeak come from her bed and Cerise poked her red head out from behind the white sheet. Relief flooded through Ruby, as well as the pure joy from her dragon.

Cerise dropped to the floor, took a few running steps toward Ruby, and leaped onto her shoulder. Ruby scratched under her dragon's chin. "I guess you missed me," she said, and her dragon squeaked in agreement.

"That dragon reminds me of Zwei as a puppy," Yang commented as she unpacked her bag.

Ruby laughed. "No, Zwei was more crazy than Cerise." Her hatchling started sniffing the air in the room, then locked her gaze on the bags Ruby brought with her. "You hungry? We bought some food specifically for you today." Cerise squeaked in delight then jumped off Ruby's shoulder.

Ruby pulled a package of fish out of the bag. She barely had it open when Cerise pounced on it. Her small dragon went to town on the fish like, well, a wild animal. Ruby crossed the room and grabbed the box of cookies from Yang. She opened it and popped two cookies into her mouth at the same time. When she was about to eat a third Cerise squeaked for attention. Ruby looked over and saw her dragon had cleaned out the entire package.

"How?" Ruby asked, even though Cerise couldn't respond. "All those fish weighed as much as you." Her small dragon just squeaked and looked at Ruby with pleading eyes. Her shoulders slumped in defeat. _This isn't going to work._ "Yang? Does dad have a Scroll with video conferencing yet?"

Yang shrugged. "I don't think he's that far behind. Why?"

Ruby picked up Cerise, who chirped happily before licking Ruby's cheek. "I think it'll be easier to explain that way."

"Makes sense." Yang smirked. "Need me to call since your hands are full?"

"Please." Ruby smiled down at the cutie in her arms. Cerise hummed, then climbed onto Ruby's shoulder. She crawled around Ruby's back so her neck and tail hung off opposite shoulders. "Comfotable?" Cerise hummed and rubbed her face against Ruby's.

Weiss squeaked from her bed. "Oh my gosh! How can she be so cute?"

"I like this new Weiss," Blake said. "Can Cerise stay like that forever?"

"Hey!" Weiss shot a glare at Blake.

"Can you two keep it down?" Yang fake shouted. "I'm making a call here." She turned back to her Scroll and waved Ruby over. "Hey dad. How's it going?"

"About normal," their dad said. "How's it Yanging?" Ruby stood off to the side. She could see her dad, but he couldn't see her.

Yang smirked, but it fell off just as quickly. "That's debatable right now, actually."

Their dad's smile disappeared. "Something wrong?"

"Something...different. Ruby can explain it better." Yang turned her Scroll's camera toward Ruby.

"Hi dad." Ruby raised a hand and waved as best she could without disturbing Cerise.

"Hi Ruby." Her dad returned the wave, then leaned forward. "What's that around your neck?"

Ruby ran a finger under her dragon's chin. "Go on, Cerise. Say hi."

Cerise purred and chirped at the Scroll. Taiyang's eyes widened. "You got a lizard?" he asked. "I didn't know you liked them."

"Well, you're partially right." Ruby turned around so hers and Cerise' back faced the Scroll. "She's a lizard, but she's more than that."

"Are those...wings?" Her dad asked.

"Yep." Ruby turned her head back as best as she could with Cerise wrapped around her. "We've all agreed that she's a dragon."

"Wow." Her dad blinked and leaned back in his chair. The corners of his lips raised. "What? Having one for a big sister wasn't enough for you?"

Yang turned her Scroll back to herself. "I'm right here you know." She turned the Scroll back to Ruby.

Their dad laughed then focused back on Ruby. "So what's the problem here? Looks like you've got a new friend."

Ruby turned back and bit her lower lip. "Unless we can somehow get her back to Patch, we have to feed her ourselves right now."

"That doesn't sound too hard. How much can she eat?"

"You know those big fish bundles from the Hi Dee Deli? She ate an entire package before I could blink."

Her dad slumped in his chair. "Oh. That is a problem"

* * *

Professor Ozpin reviewed the latest reports handed to him by Glynda. "As you can see," his second in command said, "the concentration of Grimm in the Emerald Forest had dropped significantly in the past twenty-four hours. Expeditions professors had planned for today have had to be postponed or moved to Forever Fall. I haven't seen a drop this significant since the days before the last Grimm siege ten years ago."

"You believe this could be a prelude for an attack?" Ozpin asked, though he had his own theory on the matter.

"I think we should at least be cautious and warn the Huntsmen that guard the city if they haven't noticed already. If there is an attack, we can be ready."

"It would do us well to be cautious. Will you notify the defenders?"

"I will when I return to my office."

The intercom on Ozpin's desk buzzed. "Professor Ozpin, Ruby Rose is here to see you."

This was different. Occasionally team leaders would visit for one reason or another, usually to clear their teams for missions beyond their team's level. Ruby had yet to do so, not that it stopped her team in the past from going on unsanctioned missions. Ozpin flicked his eyes to Glynda. "We are almost done here," she said.

Ozpin pressed the button for the intercom. "Send her up." He took his finger off the intercom. "What else do you have for me?"

"Two fourth year teams have earned enough credits to graduate one semester early. I have the paperwork right here." Glynda placed a folder on Ozpin's desk.

The headmaster opened it and took a look through the teams. Teams CLOD and ISSS, both far ahead of their compatriots. All credits were in order, and they had proven successful on multiple missions, both school assigned and freelance. "Do they know graduating early will disqualify them from the Tournament?"

"They are aware, and they all have reasons for not entering, whether financial or otherwise."

"Very well." Ozpin signed on the dotted line. "Remnant has recieved eight more outstanding Huntsmen." He handed the folder back to Glynda.

"They will be glad to hear that." Glynda nodded.

The elevator beeped and the doors opened. Ruby stepped out, oddly with a backpack around her shoulders. Another first. "Miss Rose. This is a surprise."

"It's kind of one for me too." Ruby smiled, but it was forced. Her eyes flicked to Glynda and her smile disappeared altogether. She appeared even smaller than she usually did.

"Something from your assignment in the Forest last night?" Glynda asked.

"Yeah, but not in the way you're probably thinking." Ruby knelt down and took the backpack off. She grabbed the zippers on the top of the bag, but didn't open it. She looked between both professors. "Promise you won't freak out?"

"You have my word," Ozpin said, with Glynda saying much the same thing.

Ruby bit her lip and unzipped her bag. She pulled the top apart, but didn't reach inside. "It's okay, Cerise. You can come out now."

A flash of red shot out of the bag. It hid behind Ruby and hissed at the bag. Ozpin rose from his chair and placed his hands flat on his desk. _It couldn't be.  
_  
"Miss Rose," Glynda said in a voice a step off a growl, "what is that?"

Ruby shrunk even more. "We think a dragon."

"And this...dragon came from the Emerald Forest?" Ozpin asked.

"Her egg did." Ruby scratched the dragon's head, drawing out a purr. "She hatched late last night. Scared the rest of my team half to death." She winced. "If you've heard about my team making noise last night, it was that. Anyway, she hasn't wanted to leave my side since she hatched." The dragon looked around Ruby and raised her neck. She trotted out from beside Ruby and to the window. "Except for right now."

Ozpin watched the dragon's progress. She reached the reached the window and gave another strange purr. Her neck and wings raised. She raced from one end of the office to the other, much like a kitten would do. Once she returned to her original spot, she turned to Ruby and chirped repeatedly at her.

"Not now, Cerise," Ruby said sadly. She walked forward and picked the dragon up. "I promise, when you get bigger and you can take care of yourself, you can go outside." The dragon's wings dropped, then she climbed onto Ruby's shoulder and looked outside again.

"You plan on keeping your new pet here?" Glynda crossed her arms.

"Where else can she go?" Ruby asked. "I don't want her going outside. I don't know how she'll act around crowds of people. I don't know how _people_ will act around _her._ She's too small to protect herself." Ruby wrapped a hand around the dragon's back. "At least in my room, my team can give her food and keep her safe."

"And when she gets too big?"

Ruby winced. "Hopefully that won't happen for a while."

Ozpin weighed his options. He likely knew more about these creatures than Ruby did. This dragon could be a boon to Ruby and her team in more ways than one, but with what recently claimed a cave in the forest, would Ruby be a target? "Very well."

"What?" Ruby blinked at Ozpin, and Glynda glared at him. "Just like that."

"As long as...Cerise behaves herself, she will be welcome here for her own protection."

Ruby's face lit up like the sun, just like her mother's used to. "Thank you so much professor!" She bounced on her heels then returned her her backpack. Cerise moaned then looked at the bag on the floor. She shrieked and jumped off Ruby's shoulder. She ran and hid behind Ozpin's desk. Ruby sighed and stuck a hand out to her dragon. "Come on, Cerise. Just one more time. After this, I promise you'll never go in here again." The dragon hung her head and walked forward with her tail dragging on the floor. She stepped into the bag and looked up.

Ruby leaned forward and kissed the dragon on the snout. She zipped up the bag and put the straps over her shoulders. "Thank you for your time, professors." She stoop up and smiled at Ozpin and Glynda. She walked to the elevator and stepped inside.

As soon as the doors closed, Glynda turned on Ozpin. "I know Miss Rose is a special case, but this is too much. If people find out we're allowing pets on campus, we'll be flooded with cats, dogs, parrots, and who knows what else that we'll be responsible for if something happens here."

Ozpin grabbed his mug and took a sip. "You remember Tenga, correct?"

Glynda groaned. "I will be lucky if I ever forget him." She blinked and faced the elevator. "Wait...No. That's impossible. No one has a Semblance like that."

"If he is to be believed, it's not through a Semblance." Ozpin sat back down and picked up his Scroll. "This may also be the reason Grimm activity is down." He pressed a button on his Scroll and a holographic green dragon appeared in the center of the room fighting off a Nevermore.

"What?" Glynda stared at the projection. "Where and when was this taken?"

"Last night by the cameras we have placed around the Emerald Forest." Ozpin stood up and joined Glynda. "It appears what he said has come true."

Glynda crossed her arms. "That bears the question. Is this the ally, or an enemy?"

* * *

 **I know this is more of a filler chapter than anything, but it's coming out the same day as Fallout 4, so it's not like it'll get the normal attention. Stay tuned for the next chapter though, major developments are planned.**


	4. Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind

**Sorry if the quality on this one isn't of the best quality. I'm an introvert and don't really know how to write social interactions. Also, writers block hit me hard, as well as everything that happened on Thursday and Friday around the world. Everything hit like freight trains.**

 **Back to hopefully happier subjects, this and the next chapter were originally planned to be one, but then it would have gotten way too long. I'd like to upload every week if possible and putting everything in one chapter would have crushed that.**

 **Be prepared for more POV shifts than normal.**

 **Anyway here you go.**

* * *

 _ **One week later…**_

Ruby stared out her dorm window at the courtyard below, waiting for Yang's signal. They were waiting for the courtyard to be clear, and it being around midnight the day before exams started, it would not be much longer.

Ruby heard Cerise quietly rumble behind her. She turned around to look at her now large dragon. Cerise had grown to the size of a large dog in only a week. They just couldn't store the amount of food to feed Cerise in their small food ran out two days before, and team RWBY had to continually sneak large portions of food from the cafeteria. The floor continually creaked beneath her now considerable weight. Spikes started growing all the way along her spine except for one spot just behind her shoulders. Her scales were no longer soft to rub, they were sharp and easily cut skin. Claws that couldn't scratch the floor now gouged large chunks in the floor with every step. Yet despite all her physical changes, Cerise retained the personality she had when she first hatched.

"Cerise, you have to keep quiet," Ruby whispered. "People are sleeping, and we don't want to wake them up. Especially tonight." Cerise walked up to Ruby and nuzzled her.

Weiss shifted uncomfortably in her bed. "What's taking Yang so long? We should have had Cerise out of here twenty minutes ago."

"Weiss, she's making sure the coast is clear. It's not like she can clear the courtyard without attracting attention." Ruby looked back outside to find Yang. Thankfully she walked to their pre-arranged place and held up the palm of her hand with three fingers up. Ruby looked back at Blake, who had all four of her ears trained on the door and hallway beyond. The Faunus just nodded. The team leader locked eyes with Cerise. "Okay, let's get you outside."

Weiss and Ruby opened the window as far as it could go and carefully removed the screen. Ruby made a last minute once over of the courtyard and decided there wouldn't be a better time. She waved Cerise over. The dragon slowly walked over to the open window and poked her head out. She looked at Ruby as if to ask permission to fly out. "Fly to the forest, I'll meet you there." The dragon nodded and jumped outside for the first time.

Back in the dorm room, Ruby felt her dragon's elation about being airborne. She wanted nothing more than to be up in the air with her, but Cerise couldn't carry Ruby's weight on the ground, much less the air. Ruby jumped out the window herself and followed her dragon on the ground. Yang gave her a thumbs up as passed by.

Cerise flew high over Beacon as planned then angled toward the Emerald Forest at full speed. Ruby had to activate her semblance in order to keep up. Even though it was the dragon's first time flying, she seemed to be doing a decent job at staying straight and keeping level, that is until a gust of wind blew her off balance. Cerise recovered quickly, but dropped to only a few dozen feet above the ground.

The pair entered the forest and Ruby took out her Scroll. Ozpin had located a safe cave in the forest reletively close to Beacon, but didn't have much student or Grimm traffic. Cerise would stay there until Ozpin had a place on campus cleared out for Cerise. A stream also passed nearby, so water wouldn't be a problem. Several animals also used the stream as a water source, so that took care of the food issue. At Cerise' current size, the only predator in the area she had to worry about was Grimm, and they only attacked humans and Faunus...unless otherwise threatened.

Even though the area was safe, Ruby still worried for Cerise. This was her first time out of the dorm room, and it was in Grimm territory. There was also the distinct possibility that someone could find her and blow the whole secret, despite Ozpin's claims otherwise. It's not that she wanted to keep her dragon a hidden, but she didn't know what kind of crowd a dragon could attract. For all she knew, dragon scales could be extremely valuable like some of those books said, and they could attract some less than friendly people.

Cerise started angling toward the cave and landed as Ruby entered the clearing before it. The dragon looked into the cave and sniffed inside. She turned to look Ruby in the eyes. "I know it's not as comfortable as in the room, but I believe this is where dragons usually live," she wrapped her arms around Cerise' neck. "We both know you were outgrowing the room and you were eating absolutely everything. You just couldn't stay in there.

"Out here though you don't have to worry about breaking anything. You can eat as much as you want, drink as much as you want, pretty much do anything you want." Ruby pulled back to look her dragon in the eyes. They were filled with sadness, the first time that emotion was ever seen there. "This is only temporary. From the sound of it you'll be back on campus before next semester. I won't be far away. If you need me you just have to ask. Just, please don't walk up to anybody that isn't me, Yang, Blake, Weiss, Ozpin, or Professor Goodwitch. I don't want anything to happen to you."

Cerise' sadness rolled off her in waves, destroying Ruby's resolve. She broke and pulled her dragon close again. They stood together for several minutes before Ruby came to her senses. "That's not fair," she croaked as she pulled away. "Sending be your sadness, I don't know how to control it." The red dragon chuckled then walked alone into the cave. Ruby turned back to Beacon and didn't look back; she knew she'd either spend the night in the cave or take her dragon back with her.

Aaron lay under Nalia's wing and stared up at the cracked moon. At least he could say with certainty they were not in Alagaësia. They were in a land called Remnant in the kingdom of Vale. In the many history books Aaron read, there were no mentions of magic, dragons, urgals, dwarves, or elves. This place did however contain Faunus, almost human people with animalistic features, and the creatures of Grimm. Both had been at war with humans at some point in history, but only the war with the Grimm still lived.

The Rider sighed. Humans always seemed to make another race mad. "What do you think of all this?" he asked Nalia.

She huffed a plume of smoke into the air. _Not much different from the last time you asked. I don't know who we can trust and I have no idea who down there would take the egg._

Aaron thought back to the 'newspaper' he read back in the city. "It could be this 'White Fang' criminal group."

 _No, they're too focused on whatever this Dust is. They wouldn't worry about something that looks like a shiny rock._

"Rubies are just shiny rocks, though the egg is way bigger than a regular ruby." Aaron felt his dragon's opinion change instantly. Nalia rumbled behind him "Now you want me to go investigate them?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.

 _Yes. Even if they don't have the egg, they're still criminals. Take what you can from them and use it for our advantage._

Aaron released a humorless chuckle. "Should I leave anything for the locals to use against them?"

 _If it doesn't endanger us, yes. We should at least be friendly if we're staying here._

"Even if they would shoot us out of the sky?"

 _If we give them reason not to, they won't._

"You have more faith in these people than I do." Aaron sighed. "Alright, I'll start looking into the them in the morning. Until then, let's get some sleep. No reason to stay up any longer."

 _At least you've gotten sleep._ Nalia rumbled sadly as she settled down for the night. _I haven't been able to since the egg disappeared._

"Don't give up hope. It could very well be in good hands."

* * *

 _ **Another week later…**_

"It's feels so good to be done!" Ruby yelled while walking and punching her fists into the air.

"Yeah, one down, seven more to go!" Yang cheered.

"And the moment's gone." Ruby let her arms fall. She felt Cerise' amusement even from three miles away. In only a couple weeks, the pair was able to feel each other's minds over an incredible distance. They hadn't been out of the other's head for three days. Though Ruby welcomed the company, it did get awkward at times.

Team RWBY walked down the road to the city to celebrate the semester's end. The only thing they really had planned was to go get something to eat. Weiss insisted that it was her treat, and no one argued. After lunch, though, they just wanted to walk the city and do whatever peaked their interest.

The walk to the city was nothing special, except for the fact that there were more students on the road. Everyone had their own end of semester plans and most of them involved something in the city. It would mean the streets would be packed, but people tended to be more relaxed after exams than before.

"When we're done in the city, you guys want to take a hike in the forest?" Ruby asked, knowing her friends would get her meaning.

"Might as well," Weiss said, trying and failing to hide a smile.

"We haven't gone out there in a while. I think it would be refreshing," Blake replied.

"You know my answer sis," Yang slapped Ruby's shoulder. "I'm always up for a jaunt out there."

Ruby felt Cerise' happiness roll off her. She hadn't seen the rest of the team since she left for the cave. It was so infectious Ruby's already wide grin grew even more. "Sounds like a plan! I already have—"

A building a few blocks away interrupted Ruby by exploding. Smoke quickly rose into the air. No debris seemed to be heading toward team RWBY, but they dove for cover just in case. The four teammates locked eyes with each other, reading their expressions. They nodded in unison and ran to the remains of the building. Though they wouldn't be able to do much against any fire the explosion caused, they would be able to get people out if there were any.

The four reached the building as several people were stumbling out. People already lined the street across from the building. No police or firemen were in the crowd though. Weiss ran up to someone who came out of the building. "Is there anyone still in there?" she asked calmly.

The man shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I just got out of there as quick as I could."

Ruby looked at the burning building. She couldn't decide if it was worth the risk running in there if there were no people inside. Blake walked over her and whispered in her ear, "You can do some weird things with your mind now. You think you can tell if anyone's in the building?"

"But that's only with Cerise. Who says that it will work here?"

"You did something with us last week. You could do it again."

Ruby shivered at the thought. She still felt overwhelmed from when she accidentally broadcast her thoughts into her teammate's heads. Still, it was the fastest way to tell if someone was inside. Ruby concentrated her thoughts and extended her mind out like she did with Cerise. She felt the people around her first, then the area she could feel expanded. There were so many people around her, almost all of them were either scared or held a morbid fascination in the fire. The only three in the crowd that were determined more than anything came with Ruby from Beacon. All the feelings almost overwhelmed her, but she pressed forward to the building.

Eventually her mind's radius met the building. At first Ruby felt nothing inside. She was about to pull back when she felt three people in the building. One of them seemed to notice her, recoiled, and did something with his mind that made it impossible to read him. Ruby pulled back into herself and gasped. She didn't realize she was off balance until Blake grabbed her shoulders. "There are three people still inside," she managed to say. "They're on their way out already."

Sure enough, two people stumbled out of the building, the guy with a little girl over his shoulder. They made their way across the street to the crowd who started clapping for them. The guy set the girl down and looked her in the eyes and said something to her. Ruby belatedly realized that the guy was the one who ran her over a few weeks ago. He stood up and started walking away from the explosion site, and his route carried him right past Ruby.

She couldn't believe it. This guy saved two lives and he just walked away like it was nothing. She couldn't contain herself anymore. "You are so cool!"

* * *

Aaron jumped and looked at the source of the praise. The same girl he knocked over his first day in town was beaming up at him. Her black haired friend though looked more embarrassed than anything. "Umm, excuse me?"

"You just carried a girl out of a burning building like you do it every day!" The girl in red was practically jumping up and down with excitement while the black haired girl frantically gestured to two other people in the crowd.

 _Nalia,_ Aaron called out, _a little help please?_

 _I think not,_ she mentally chuckled. _I want to see how this plays out._

 _Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile._ Aaron returned his attention to the excited girl in front of him while trying to think of a convincing lie. "Well, I grew up around smoke and fire. I've learned the way the smoke spread to find where the fire is. When I heard voices inside after the explosion, I couldn't just sit out here and do nothing."

Aaron immediately regretted his choice of words. "Wow! You grew up doing that? How many times have you done it?" The red girl's eyes sparkled with curiosity and awe. They practically radiated off of her. It took Aaron a few seconds to realize it actually did. He immediately sealed his mind to the onslaught.

 _Nalia, I think I've found our lone magician._ About a week earlier, Aaron felt a magician's mind running through the forest late at night. He immediately sealed his mind off and hid in case he or she was hostile. Looking at the girl now proved she wasn't an enemy.

The red girl's four friends looked at her with concern. The blonde girl placed a hand on the red's shoulder. "Calm down Ruby, no need to get too excited." The girl now identified as Ruby looked at the yellow haired girl in shock, then visibly calmed down.

Sirens sounded over the commotion, signaling the arrival of emergency services. "I should probably get out of here before the cameras show up," Aaron said.

"And why do you need to do that?" the white haired girl asked. Aaron racked his brain to remember her name…Weiss.

"I don't need them to make a hero out of me. The last thing I need is public attention." Aaron took off down a side alley, out of sight of the police that pulled up to the scene. He looked back to see Ruby and her group walking after him. The Rider scowled. _How do I get rid of them?_

 _Maybe you shouldn't,_ Nalia broke in. _They could very well be friendly. You have said we need to make connections while here, and you haven't made any yet._

 _They're young. From what I've seen here, that might not mean much, but they can't be very skilled._

Nalia mentally huffed. _We have already seen more than they are likely to in a lifetime, and I believe you are younger than three of them. I don't believe either of us look like we have that kind of experience._

Aaron sighed and waited for the girls to catch up. "I'm not going to get rid of you four, am I?" he asked as they reached him.

"Nah," the blonde girl said. "I get the feeling interesting things follow you wherever you go. I'm Yang by the way." She stuck out a hand.

After a second's hesitation, Aaron shook it. "I'm Aaron." The official introductions made the rounds, with Blake being the only one he still didn't know the name of. "Well now that that's out of the way, we should get going. Someone in that crowd is going to talk and they'll be looking for me."

The group left the alley through the other side and blended into the foot traffic. The chance of being recognized decreased by the minute. Aaron forced himself to calm down. He still couldn't believe he fell into that trap the White Fang set up for him. Just as he thought he was onto something, the criminal organization obviously found him out and planned to kill him, and other humans in the process. Maybe he shouldn't have been investigating on location and instead searched with his mind. At least they couldn't detect that.

"So," Ruby broke the silence, "we were on our way to go get something to eat. You want to join us?" She got an icy glare from Weiss, but Ruby either didn't notice or ignored it.

Aaron shrugged. "Might as well, my other plans for the day kind of fell apart with the media circus back there." He was still getting used to some of the phrases used in Vale. He hoped he didn't speak out of place.

"Yes!" Ruby said while pumping a fist. She was extremely energetic, even for someone as young as her. Aaron threw a questioning glance at Blake, hoping she knew what it meant. She just shrugged. Weiss' glare now rested on Aaron. He didn't need to be in her head to know that she wasn't paying for him. The Rider simply tapped a pocket where his wallet rested. It appeared some stares were the same whether here or Alagaësia.

The group reached the restaurant shortly after. Aaron asked where each of the girls were from and they answered politely enough. Weiss still glared at him occasionally, for what Aaron couldn't even guess. Probably something in Aaron's word choice. When the waitress came to take their orders, Ruby quickly looked over her shoulder. A good portion of her normal good cheer disappeared.

As the conversation drew on, he found out that Ruby and Yang were sisters and they were all on the same team from Beacon Academy. Ruby lead team 'RWBY' and she was the youngest student at Beacon. Even though Aaron didn't know the customs of Remnant as well he wanted to, he still knew that the accomplishment was no small feat. She was a team leader, a good fighter going off what her friends said, and was apparently the only person in Vale able to expand her mind.

The last part made Aaron pause. Of the many thousands of people in the city, she was the only one able to spread her mind outside of her own head. She also wore gloves while at the table, like him. Aaron previously observed people with gloves taking them off while eating, presumably not to get them dirty. Ruby did not seem like the kind of person to wear gloves in public though. Weiss fit that position better than anyone at the table and her hands were bare from the beginning. _Could she be…?_

"So Aaron, where are you from?" Blake interrupted Aaron's thoughts.

"I'm from Vacuo," Aaron began reciting the lie he and Nalia came up with to help him fit in. "I'm in town to visit some family, and to help in a house search here. The place that blew up was one of the ideas."

The girls looked at him in shock. "You weren't in there when it happened were you?" Ruby asked.

"I was just down the street," Aaron lied. In reality, he accidentally triggered the bomb and barely shielded himself from the explosion. "Well, at least I can check one place of the list."

"You're taking this awfully well." Weiss narrowed her eyes. "And why would _you_ be searching for a home by yourself without your parents?"

Aaron chuckled without humor, and it probably sounded forced. He didn't expect that last question. "When you have the life I've had, you learn to make the best of a bad situation. To answer your second question, my parents thought it would be a better idea to split up and cover more ground." Just then the food arrived and everyone's mood improved, especially Aaron's. Even though he illegitimately acquired a large sum of Lien, he mainly stuck to eating with Nalia back in their cave. He hadn't had an actual cooked meal of decent quality in over a year.

Ruby's normal good mood came back for a second, then she whipped her head around again. The table turned quiet, even taking into account they were all eating. Yang discretely took a look at her sister. Ruby slightly shook her head. Aaron recognized the look on her face, he wore it for most of the past three years. She felt she was being hunted. Aaron tried his best not to act like he saw the difference in the team leader, but after a third violent time of looking over her shoulder, he spoke up. "Ruby," she snapped around to face Aaron, trying to mask the anxiety on her face, "is everything alright?"

She threw on a fake smile and tried to shrug off the question. "Everything's fine. It's just-" Ruby's face contorted in agony and she gripped her left arm tightly. Everyone else at the table jumped out of their chairs and Yang ran to her sister's side. Ruby opened her eyes, and Aaron saw the pure panic in them. "Cerise," she mumbled. Then she bolted for the door. Once outside, she vanished in a red blur, leaving rose petals in her wake.

The rest of team RWBY looked at each other, as if debating what to do. "We have to go after her," Yang announced. Weiss dropped a bunch of Lien cards on the table then followed the other two out.

Aaron stood by the table trying to figure out what just happened. Ruby grabbed her arm as if it was cut, but there wasn't a drop of blood by the table or on the way to the door. She kept looking over her shoulder, like she was afraid of something, then she sped off in that direction. The panic in her eyes was genuine, but it wasn't for herself. Add to that the observations he made earlier. Lastly, the word, no, _name_ she said. "Cerise," Aaron whispered to himself.

It finally dawned on Aaron. He finally realized what was so special about Ruby the day they met. _Nalia,_ he called. _I don't think we have to look for the egg anymore._

* * *

 **How many of you got the How to Train Your Dragon reference? I'm sorry, I wanted to put that in here at some point and I leapt at the opportunity. Hope you liked this chapter. Reviews are still appreciated.**


	5. Rider Revelation

**Ugh, one chapter after I say I want to get these out once per week, I get the next one out nearly a week late. School work is piling up since it's the end of the semester and I'm heavily involved with my college's band program and I can't miss anything there. I will try to get these up as often as possible, but the Tuesday upload schedule that I somehow got into will most likely fall apart.**

 **Story wise I've figured out who I'm going to give another of the eggs to and semblances for Aaron, Nalia, and Cerise. The question right now is if I want to do either. I'm thinking most likely on the semblances, but I'm still not convinced on the egg part. Also, Drunkle Qrow will most likely make an appearance when this gets to Volume 3, Raven will have some impact, still deciding about if Summer will show up. Yes I am one of those people who think she's alive.**

 **The ancient language will be used now, but several words were never used in any of the books. I will be indicating its use through italics and quotation marks. Here's an example:** _ **"Give that dragon a cookie!"**_ **Weird example, but at least one of you seem to want it. I will write in the ancient language when a full phrase is available. I will not make up words. That would confuse everybody, me included.**

 **Anyway, back to the story.**

* * *

Ruby ran through the forest toward her dragon. Back at the restaurant, she felt Cerise' worry, turned fear, turned panic. Shortly after that, a lance of pure pain raced up Ruby's arm, but it wasn't her own. Cerise was injured and projected her pain to Ruby, though assumingly unintentionally. Panic overtook Ruby and she rushed to defend her dragon.

Even though Ruby ran faster than ever before, it still took her far too long to reach her dragon. She tracked her dragon through her mind and eventually came to a clearing by a cliff-side not too far from her cave. Cerise clawed her way up the cliff and stared down at a large pack of Beowolves. Even though the dragon had grown incredibly in the past two weeks, even the smallest Grimm out massed Cerise. Ruby finally saw the damage the creatures caused. Four long and deep slashes ran the length of her front right leg. Similar scars lay on her shoulders and wings, though those didn't seem as bad. Cerise finally noticed Ruby and looked in her direction. The dragon whimpered at the one she knew her whole life.

Something snapped in Ruby. A rage she didn't know existed boiled to the top. She whipped out Crescent Rose and lunged at the Beowolves. Her weapon sliced off the heads of two with one swing and eviscerated another three before the rest of the pack even noticed her. The mob slowly encircled Ruby and ignored the injured dragon perched a dozen feet up the cliff.

Ruby just snarled at the dark wolves that surrounded her. They hurt her dragon, and they were going to pay for it. The wolves figured strength in numbers would enable them to bring down the huntress in training. Eight if the creatures rushed Ruby at the same time. She pointed Crescent Rose at the ground and fired herself upward. While in the air, she shot the eight Grimm that rushed her, and continued firing at the pack below her. When she ran out of bullets in the weapon, she dropped on top of the pack's Alpha, impaling it at the same time.

The remaining Beowolves stared at Ruby, and she glared back with an intensity only matched by Yang when someone touches her hair. "Who's next?" Ruby growled. The remnants of the pack charged Ruby all at once. She fired Crescent Rose behind her and launched herself at the horde, cutting through the first ranks like butter. Ruby twirled her weapon around her and dismembered and decapitated several. At such close range, even a careless backswing would kill or at least injure a Grimm. One of the creatures managed to get a swipe at Ruby, but she quickly cut off its hand then removed its head.

Eventually the pack of Beowolves all lay dead or dying at Ruby's feet. Still, she searched the trees for any more. A soft growl came from her left. She looked at the source and saw a Beowolf trying to claw its way across the ground to attack Ruby. She walked up to the dying creature, Crescent Rose ready. Ruby stopped just out of the Grimm's reach and raised her weapon over her head. "Don't. Touch. My. Dragon." She drove the tip of her scythe into the creature's head.

With all the Grimm dead, Ruby started to calm herself down. She heard another whimper from the cliff. All the anger drained from Ruby and she looked up at her dragon. Cerise was making her way down the cliff with only three sets of claws, keeping her injured leg close to her body. About halfway down she lost grip and fell the remaining six feet landing flat on her back, driving her back spikes into the ground.

Ruby quickly folded up Crescent Rose and ran to her dragon's side. She helped Cerise flip back to her feet, leaving massive gouges in the ground. Luckily, the spikes didn't look damaged. Ruby ran to Cerise' injured leg and looked closer at the injury. The slashes dug all the way to the bone. Blood poured out in buckets, soaking the ground beneath them. Ruby knew it was bad, but she didn't know if it was enough to make Cerise bleed out. She tore off her cloak and wrapped it around the injury as tight as she could. Still, it wasn't enough. Red dragon's blood oozed out of the hood.

Cerise whimpered again and looked Ruby in the eyes. This was bad. Very bad. "We have to get you to a doctor," Ruby mumbled. She positioned herself just behind Cerise' injured leg. The pair walked like that for a few minutes, luckily with no more Grimm waiting in ambush. The dragon's bulk wore Ruby down quickly but she pressed forward. She didn't care about what injuries she obtained from the work. Her dragon came first.

Cerise collapsed under her own weight, nearly taking Ruby with her. The young huntress tried to help her dragon back to her feet, but it was no use. Cerise just whimpered weakly. Her eyes started to glaze over. Apparently the injury _was_ that bad. Ruby whipped out her scroll to contact the emergency services of Beacon, cursing herself for not thinking of it earlier. At that point, they were the only ones that could save Cerise. Unfortunately, it was split in half, most likely the one hit a Beowolf managed to land.

Ruby looked Cerise in the eyes. Her dragon was dying, and there was nothing she could do about it. She threw her arms around Cerise' neck and started crying. "It's all my fault," she whispered. "I should have kept you closer to the city. I should been here sooner. I should have kept you in the room until wherever Ozpin would put you was ready. I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" She kept up like this for several minutes. Her own energy drained off her rapidly.

"Ruby!" a voice filtered through the trees. "Ruby where are you?"

Ruby's spirits lifted slightly. "Yang! I'm over here!" she called at the top of her lungs. If the rest of the team was with Yang, maybe, just maybe, they could carry Cerise to Beacon where she could hopefully be treated. Sure enough, three sets of footsteps stomped through the trees. The rest of team RWBY froze when they saw the state of their teammate and her dragon.

"Ruby, what…" Weiss began to say.

"We have to get her to Beacon!" Ruby interrupted. "They're the only ones that can help her!"

"Have you called for help?" Weiss asked with slight hesitation in her voice.

"Can't. My scroll's busted."

Weiss immediately took out her own scroll and dialed a number. "Ozpin knows, right?" Ruby nodded frantically. After a few seconds Weiss got an answer. "Cerise is injured. We can't move her from here on our own. We need a Bullhead or something to get her out of here." She paused and put on a very confused face. "Okay, thanks." She ended the call and looked at Ruby. "He said he's already aware of the situation and a team is on the way."

"Really? How?" Ruby didn't stop to tell anyone about what happened. How'd Ozpin know?

"Ruby," Blake called while looking up at a tree. "There are cameras out here." Ruby looked up at the tree Blake was looking at and saw the camera almost hidden behind branches. It made sense to have them out in the forest with the initiations held out here. Also, if any Grimm came too close to Beacon they would be spotted. But...Beacon was way closer. Did Ozpin know about this before it happened?

Ruby shook her head. No time to blame. If help didn't come fast, Cerise would bleed out.

Cerise whimpered again and Ruby rubbed her scaly head. "Don't worry, help will be here soon."

"Sooner than you think, Ruby," Another voice said from the trees. Ruby snapped her head to the direction of the voice while the rest of her team formed a line in front of her and Cerise. The person the voice belonged to stepped out of the shadows and into the midday light. Ruby gasped. Aaron stood in front of the group and was staring at Cerise.

* * *

Aaron stood at the edge of the clearing the girls set up in. Yang, Blake, and Weiss rested in defensive stances, while Ruby had her arms wrapped around her dragon's neck. Cerise—or at least Aaron thought that was the dragon's name—looked up at him in terror. If the older Rider was right, he was the only the fifth human the dragon had ever seen, and Ruby would have preferred to keep it that way.

"Why did you follow us?" Weiss growled.

Aaron looked over at Weiss with the most neutral face he could manage. "Ruby was obviously terrified of something," he said. "I had my suspicions, I just wish I was wrong." He turned to look Ruby in the eyes. "I can help her."

Something changed in Ruby's eyes. She wanted to trust Aaron but wasn't sure if it was the best idea. She tightened her hold on Cerise' neck at the same time. Blake spoke what was on everyone's mind, "How do we know we can trust you?"

Aaron mentally switched to the ancient language while still keeping eye contact with Ruby. _"I can help your dragon. I shall not harm her in any way."_

The fear in Cerise' eyes vanished immediately. Ruby cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes, like she had heard those words before, but couldn't remember them exactly. The other girls only got angrier. Yang's bracelets extended into full gauntlets. "Speak Vytalian!" she demanded.

Cerise looked up at Ruby with pleading eyes. What happened next made Aaron wish he wasn't paying as close of attention to the dragon's condition. _Ruby,_ Cerise thought to her Rider.

Ruby visibly recoiled in hearing her dragon's voice for most likely the first time. Aaron kept his reaction to himself. _I should not have heard that._ He thought to himself.

Nalia sent her disappointment over their mental link. _Under normal conditions I would throw you off a cliff for listening in on another's first words, but these aren't normal conditions._

Ruby flinched again, like Cerise just said something else, but Aaron already retreated from the small dragon's mind. The young huntress looked over the older Rider like she was making sure he wasn't a threat. She eventually locked eyes with Aaron. "Do what you can," she whispered.

Her teammates looked at their leader in surprise. "Ruby, are you sure?" Yang asked.

"I think Cerise trusts him...somehow. That's enough for me." Ruby focused her eyes on Aaron. "Please, help her."

Aaron simply nodded and approached the dragon. Weiss grabbed his arm as he passed. "Leave your sword with me." The Rider barely glanced at the white girl as he unhooked his scabbard from his belt and handed it to the Weiss, sword still inside.

Aaron crossed the rest of the distance unhindered and Ruby stepped back to give him room. He knelt by the injured leg and turned to look the young dragon in the eye. "This will itch a lot, but don't attempt to scratch it," he soothed. Though he couldn't see Ruby, he felt her gaze boring into his back. There was no doubt in the Rider's mind that she would attack him if he so much as touched a scale the wrong way.

 _Nalia, lend me your strength,_ Aaron called out.

 _What's mine is yours,_ Nalia immediately sent her energy to her Rider.

Aaron raised a hand and went to work. First he purposely made his hand glow so the girls would know he was actually doing something. They all gasped as they realized Aaron was no ordinary doctor. The Rider turned healer used a spell to identify the damage behind the hood. It was extensive, but he reattached severed limbs before. Compared to that, this was a cakewalk. Then again, Oromis coached him all the way through he while standing over his shoulder

Simple or not, it still took time to heal, and that was time Cerise might not have. Aaron worked quickly, rebuilding bone and stitching up muscles. Somehow the slashes missed all major blood vessels in the dragon's leg, which was probably the only reason she was still alive. For her part, Cerise lay nearly completely still, keeping her leg immobile while only twitching with her neck and head.

As the last cut in her leg formed back together, Cerise relaxed. Aaron immediately changed his focus from the leg to the wings. While not life threatening, if not tended to, the injuries could have a permanent impact on her flight skills. Those wounds closed up easily as they were less than an inch deep. Last he healed the superficial scratches on the rest of the dragon's body.

Aaron sighed as he finished his work. It was faster than expected, but the speed took a toll on his and Nalia's energy. They could still fight if needed, but only if it lasted only a few minutes. Prolonged engagements could be a problem.

As he was about to remove the Ruby's cloak from the previously injured leg, he hesitated. Most people in Vale had their signature look, and that hood seemed to be Ruby's. Aaron used some of his remaining energy to remove all of Cerise' blood from it. Then he unwrapped the make-shift tourniquet and inspected his work with his own eyes. The only indications of a wound were a few missing scales.

"All done," Aaron announced as he stood up. Ruby pushed him aside violently, then knelt by the former worst injury. She ran a finger down the line of missing scales and pulled it back only to find no blood on her hands. She looked up at Aaron in wonder. He just smiled and extended an arm that held Ruby's hood. "I believe this is yours?"

Ruby snatched her cloak from Aaron and felt all over. Again, there was not a drop of blood. She hesitantly put it on then turned to look her dragon in the eye. "How are you feeling, Cerise?" she asked. Cerise just hummed happily, though weakly.

"She'll need plenty of rest, food, and water," Aaron chipped in. "She'll be fully recovered in a few days."

Ruby looked up at Aaron with an odd expression. She knelt like that for a few seconds, then launched herself at the older Rider. She wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed tightly. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she repeated over and over.

Aaron expected the response, but not to this magnitude. Hesitantly he returned the hug as he figured out what to say. "I was just doing my duty. I'm sure you'd do the same thing if you could."

Ruby let go and beamed up at Aaron. "How did you learn to do that?" she asked. "How were you _able_ to do that?"

Aaron smiled, he was waiting for that question. He removed the glove he wore on his right hand and held it palm up so his gedwëy ignasia lay in full view. "I'm a Dragon Rider, like you." Ruby stared at the silver mark on his hand in shock. She removed the bloody glove on her left hand and looked at the similarity between their marks. They were practically identical.

"I hate to break this up, but we're about to have company," Yang announced, breaking the moment between the two Riders. Aaron snapped back to reality and stared out into the forest. A roar rolled over the trees, and not one from Nalia.

"Deathstalker," Weiss said as she readied her rapier. Almost as an afterthought, she threw Aaron his sword and scabbard. He caught the combo and reattached the sheath to his belt.

 _Nalia, care to make an entrance?_ Aaron asked his dragon.

Her glee flowed over their connection like water. _I'm chasing this 'Deathstalker' right now. At least I have something to call these._ Soon the footfalls of the giant scorpion were felt through the ground. The girls of team RWBY formed up around Cerise as she couldn't fight. Aaron drew his sword, but only for show. Nalia killed several Deathstalkers in their short time in the Emerald Forest, though unfortunately they weren't edible.

Another roar assaulted the group's ears, and not one from a Grimm. Aaron smiled as the girls tensed up at the unfamiliar sound. "That wasn't a Grimm," Blake mumbled.

"Oh really? I thought it was a Beowolf cub," Yang joked.

Aaron chuckled, which drew strange looks from the rest of the group. "Blake was right," he said. "That wasn't a Grimm." The clearing darkened and everyone looked up in varying levels of amazement. "That's my dragon."

Nalia carried a Deathstalker without its tail in her claws. She back flipped and dove straight for the ground. The dragon picked up a considerable amount of speed before throwing the scorpion to the ground. It hit the dirt with the force of a stalactite from Farthen Dûr crashing to the ground. Nalia landed with much less force, but still enough to crush the remains of the black creature. For good measure, she tore off its head with her powerful claws.

Team RWBY froze in place, weapons aimed at Nalia. None of them moved except to look at each other. Nalia cocked her head and looked at the four huntresses in training. _Come on, I don't bite. Well, I won't anyway._

Yang, Blake, and Weiss looked at Nalia in surprise and lowered their weapons. Ruby, on the other hand, perked up. "You can talk too?"

Her teammates looked at their leader with even more surprise. "'Too?'" Weiss asked.

Ruby scratched her head. "Cerise said my name twice right before Aaron healed her. That's how I knew I could trust him."

Yang threw her arms up in defeat. "Okay, would someone please tell me what's going on?" she yelled.

Nalia chuckled. _That is a long story, yellow one-_

"-but now isn't the time or place for that," Aaron finished. "I don't want to be cut off by the healers that you called here."

The large green dragon hummed her agreement then looked at the small red dragon. Nalia walked over to Cerise and lowered her head to look the smaller dragon in the eyes. _It's nice to meet you Cerise Longtail,_ she said.

"'Longtail?'" Ruby asked incredulously. "Shouldn't _I_ get a say in her last name?"

Aaron chuckled. "A dragon's 'last name,' as you called it, is given by physical attributes or abilities. To add a few others, there are Brightscales, Razorclaws,' he nodded at his dragon, "and Nalia is a Quickwing."

"Quickwing?" Ruby turned to look at Nalia.

 _I'm fast, and I had my first flight at only a few hours old._ Nalia sifted her attention to Ruby. _You're older than most new Riders, much stronger too._

Ruby blushed and turned away slightly. "Well, a few years at combat school will do that."

Nalia nodded and looked over at the three other girls in the clearing. _So you are Ruby's team?_

None of them spoke for a moment, still in shock from seeing a ferocious dragon turned into a gentle giant. Eventually Yang spoke up. "Yep, at least for the next three and a half years. Then we can get away from her."

Nalia reared back in surprise. She was about to mentally/verbally assault Yang when Ruby launched herself at her sister. "Get rid of me? Pfft! Good luck with that." That also surprised Nalia. She looked at Aaron for confirmation that their behavior was normal. He just shrugged. From the little time he knew these girls, he knew Ruby was energetic, just not how it manifests itself.

Something in the air caught Nalia's attention. She sniffed the air a few times and settled her gaze on Blake. She stood her ground despite the intense stare, but her face said that she was uncomfortable. Nalia cocked her head. _You aren't human._

Blake froze in place, as did the rest of her team. Eventually she sighed and untied the bow on her head, revealing two cat ears. "How did you know?" she asked.

 _You smell similar to a werecat._ Nalia continued looking at the ears with interest. _Are they natural?_

"I'm a Faunus, what do you expect?" Blake asked suddenly on the defensive.

Nalia hummed in understanding. _I can think of a few elves who would be jealous of you._

"Elves?" Weiss scoffed.

"Jealous?" Blake's face brightened up.

"What's a werecat?" Yang asked, oblivious to the other two girls' questions.

Aaron laughed at the situation before him. "Elves and werecats are both races where we come from. From what I can tell, werecats are like your werewolves, but can change anytime and are mainly the size of house cats. The elves are graceful, good fighters, and frankly better looking than humans as a general rule. They aren't like ones who make toys and live in the North Pole."

The older Rider fixed his eyes on Blake. "The elves are so good looking because they can make themselves look however they want, typically what they think is the most beautiful. Many of them take the appearance of animals. Still, not many of them can make the extra body parts work because, well, there is a lot of stuff to reroute and reconnect for ears, tails and such to be functional. So, yeah, there would probably be some elves who would be jealous of all Faunus because they are born with appearances and abilities the elves can't replicate."

Blake blinked several times. "Oh. I...uh..."

Off to the side Yang snickered. "Sorry Ruby, looks like Aaron has a thing for the cat lady."

Aaron didn't think it was possible for Ruby to blanch with her pale skin, but she proved otherwise. "Yang!" she yelled while backhanding her sister. Blake just rolled her eyes while Weiss brought her hand up to her face.

"Am I missing something here?" Aaron asked while very confused.

Ruby clamped a hand over her sister's mouth before she could speak. "Nothing! Nothing. You missed nothing," she stammered.

Nalia shook her head. _And I thought two-legs back home were odd._

"We're not all like this," an exasperated Weiss said, gesturing to the sisters. Yang was trying to throw Ruby off her back.

A sound unfamiliar to Aaron rolled over the trees, coming from direction of the city. He turned to Nalia to see if she could see what made it. She craned her neck above the trees. _It's the healers,_ she said. _It took them long enough._

Aaron searched the ground for Cerise and found her watching the struggle between the sisters while lying next to Nalia. She appeared to be doing well, at least her eyes were open and alert. Still, the young dragon was recovering from massive blood loss, and no one can just walk it off. Ruby trusted the healers enough for them to come work on Cerise, but Aaron still wasn't sure.

The flying metal machine flew over the clearing and landed. Those inside didn't immediately jump out, which tipped Aaron off that something was wrong. If they were there for Cerise, why didn't they run to the small dragon's side?

Only one man left the transport and walked to meet Ruby. She met the man halfway. "Thanks for coming out and everything, but the situation's handled."

"We are aware of the situation, Miss Rose," the man said. "Our new orders are to escort you and him to Beacon. Professor Ozpin wishes to speak with both of you." He gestured over at Aaron.

The older Rider frowned. "What about our dragons?"

"He requests that they stay here for now until your meeting is over."

Ruby seemed taken aback. Aaron couldn't blame her. Her dragon was recovering from a mortal injury, and she was being asked to leave her. She looked back at Cerise with sad eyes. "But, she needs me," Ruby stuttered.

"We'll stay here until you get back Ruby," Weiss spoke up. "Nothing will get through us." Ruby stared at her teammate for a few seconds, like she was thinking it over. Eventually she nodded.

Aaron looked up at Nalia. "Find her some food." The dragon nodded then took off toward the mountain she called home for the last two weeks and the abundant wildlife that lived there. Aaron turned to Ruby and gestured to the transport. "Ladies first."

* * *

 **Well now the official introductions have been made. I will say, that was the first melee fight I EVER wrote. I know it's utter crap. If you notice any spelling or grammar errors please yell at me for it. I hate reading them and I hate even more writing them and not noticing. I do hope that you liked this week late chapter.**


	6. A New Home

**Before this chapter, I'd like to thank all of you for reading, favoriting, and following. A month on and this story has over 1.5 thousand views and twenty + favorites. I honestly did not think it would get this far in a month, if ever. Again, thank you all so much.**

 **Now to answer a question I'm sure a lot of people have, brought to my attention by Midnight-Storm21 and Rubin34. I will not be giving all members of team RWBY an egg. That would just be too tacky and honestly very, very unlikely to happen in 'reality.' The one I have planned to get an egg may also seem a little tacky, but I think is entirely possible. There is a story behind the third, but I'm still not sure if/who I want to give it to.**

 **Sorry in advance for no Ruby POV.**

* * *

The transport flew over the Emerald Forest at a pace that rivaled that of many Quickwings on Vroengard. Aaron stood by a door watching the trees roll by beneath them. Ruby stood on the other side staring at her feet. The older Rider looked at the younger with concern. Her emotions had been all over the place since he found everyone in the clearing. Now, she was equally likely to explode in rage as to collapse on the floor in depression. Still, as much as Aaron was concerned for Ruby, he was also glad she was at least beginning to realize what her dragon means to her.

They arrived at Beacon Academy faster than Aaron expected. Only five minutes after they left the clearing, the transport was settling down in front of the school. If Cerise was so close, why did it take the healers so long to get there? Also, if these people really were healers, where was the equipment necessary? Aaron knew he didn't know what most medical equipment of Remnant did, or even looked like, but surely they would have things to wrap wounds and dress them on the spot. He didn't see anything that looked like that.. Aaron concluded that his and Ruby's transport never was intended to treat Cerise.

 _Something is definitely wrong here._ Aaron thought as he stepped out of the transport. Ruby jumped out and immediately started walking with purpose toward the center of Beacon. Her mood was made up now, she was furious. She stormed her way across the campus grounds, with Aaron keeping his distance behind her. About halfway to the tower at the center of the school, a group of four casually moved to intercept Ruby. "Hey Ruby, you're back," one of they said, "I thought we planned to-"

"Not now Jaune," Ruby growled. The other group just stared.

Aaron tried to walk past unnoticed, but at least one of the four saw him. "Who is that guy?" the one called Jaune asked his group as the Rider walked by.

"And why is Ruby acting so grumpy?" a female voice chipped in.

"I can't help but feel the two are related," the other woman said.

Aaron quickened his pace to catch up to Ruby. Several people around the courtyard watched the two with interest, probably the combination of Ruby's less than normal attitude and a new guy. As much as Aaron wanted to keep a low profile, that wasn't exactly possible anymore. He lost an egg that was found by a local and the hatchling was severely injured. Ruby and Cerise needed protection, and as much as he was able, instruction. Also, the people on the transport had seen two dragons in a land where there were none. They might be professional enough to not say anything, but Aaron didn't want to take that chance. Better to 'go public' on his own terms.

Ruby entered the tower and walked up to a pair of silver doors. She pushed a button by the side of them then crossed her arms, still in front of the door. Aaron raised an eyebrow at the sight. Why was she just standing there? Where were the handles on the doors? Soon a ding chimed and the doors opened of their own accord. Ruby walked into the small room on the other side. She turned around and gave Aaron a strange look.

"What, you never seen an elevator before?" she asked with only a slight hint of her normal tone sneaking in.

Aaron walked into the 'elevator' and the doors closed behind him. Immediately after he felt himself moving upward at a surprising pace. "You have some strange magic here," he said. Ruby looked up at Aaron in confusion, then shook her head. Her anger was rising with the elevator. Soon it would spill over if she couldn't control it. Aaron remembered a time where his rage boiled over in a populated area. The result wasn't fun to deal with.

There was another ding and the doors opened to reveal an office space with many metal cogs rotating around each other. If they served a purpose other than decoration, Aaron could only guess. Two people were already in the room. One of them was a middle aged man wearing mostly green clothes, glasses, and holding a cane. Professor Ozpin, Aaron guessed. The other was a woman in a purple cape, a puffy white shirt, and a black skirt. Both looked up at the new arrivals.

Aaron stepped out of the elevator calmly, but Ruby exploded past him. "Why did you make us leave Cerise out there?" she yelled. Her anger poured off her like a waterfall.

Aaron looked at Ruby in shock. This was not the same person he met in the city. He put a calming yet firm hand on the younger Rider's shoulder. "Ruby, calm yourself," he said.

Ruby just shrugged off his hand. "You knew that Cerise was severely injured. That wasn't a medical Bullhead. They didn't even have any medical gear on there! Why didn't you send people who could actually _help?_ You had cameras out there too! Why'd you let them get so close? Why didn't you tell me before it happened?"

The woman in the room contorted her own face in anger. "Mind your tongue, Miss Rose," she scolded. "Keep your emotions in your own head as well," She rubbed the top of her head like she had a headache.

"Calm down Glynda," Ozpin soothed as he stood from his chair. "Ruby has every right to be angry with me." He took a sip from his mug, then set it down on his desk. "I will say, Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck were dispatched as soon as I noticed what was happening, but you arrived just as they were leaving Beacon. I did have a medical transport being prepped at the same time as the one that picked you up. Which one I sent depended on him." The man looked at Aaron.

Ruby stared up at Aaron, her rage redirected. The older Rider just stared back at the other man in confusion "Me?"

The other man nodded. "I'm sorry, let me introduce myself. I'm Professor Ozpin, headmaster if Beacon Academy. This is Glynda Goodwitch, my right hand woman." Ozpin gestured to the woman in the room, who just nodded.

"I'm Aaron Benson, Rider of Nalia Quickwing," Aaron responded. "Now, how do I fit into this?"

"You have been recorded since your arrival here two weeks ago, including when you healed your own dragon after it was ambushed Deathstalkers and a Nevermore."

"'She,'" Aaron corrected as he crossed his arms. They were being watched the whole time? "So, you know when we came here, that I can heal severe injuries, and I'm guessing you know where we sleep at night. What else do you know about us?"

"I know you have been into the city on several occasions, I know you ran out of a bombed building, escorting one person out and carrying another over this morning," The man picked his mug up from his desk, took a small sip, and then looked Aaron in the eyes. "I know you aren't from Remnant."

Aaron blinked twice, but otherwise had no outward reaction. This man knew more than he let on. Then again, a green dragon appearing in the middle of a forest in a world where dragons don't exist would tip anybody off. Ruby was listening to the conversation while trying not to explode again and calm herself down. "How is that possible?" she eventually asked.

"That's a long story, Ruby" Aaron sighed. "Most of it I will only speak with Nalia about. But I am not from Remnant." He stopped himself before he said anything further and stretched out his mind to his dragon. _How much should I say? Can we trust these people?_

 _Considering they haven't tried to kill us since we've been here, we can trust them a little, but don't give away everything. We need them to like us._ She responded.

Aaron mentally nodded, then focused back on those in the room. "I'm from a land called Alagaësia. Nalia and I are members of the Dragon Rider order; defenders of the land from war, crime, and other disasters. To put forward a comparison to here, we're the Huntsmen and Huntresses of Alagaësia.

"We aren't exactly here by choice," Aaron continued slowly. "We were betrayed by several of our own. I don't know the details since we were away from our island at the time, but our Order fell in a matter of hours." Aaron looked at his feet and dropped his voice to a whisper. "As far as we know, we're the only ones left."

The last part wasn't a total lie. Brom was still alive, as well as masters Oromis and Glaedr, but all were disabled in their own ways. Still, it had the desired effect on the people in the room. Ruby's anger completely vanished, the one known as Glynda gaped, while Ozpin just nodded in sympathy.

"We've been running for three years. Somewhere along the line we found a way to leave Alagaësia behind. We intended to find help from another country, or at least other Riders to bring back, but now that we're here I know there is no easy way to get back." Whether Aaron liked to admit it or not, the only true part in his latest statement was that they were running for three years. Still, the other people in the room sent their sympathy in their own ways.

"Why didn't you say anything before?" Ruby asked.

Aaron scoffed. "It's not exactly something I want people knowing, and really, would you have believed me before the clearing?" Ruby just looked down at her feet and mumbled something Aaron didn't catch.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Ozpin said, "but now we need to talk about what to do now."

Aaron looked at the older man. "The way you say that sounds like you already have an idea."

"This part is for both of you, or rather, your dragons," Ozpin looked at both riders in the room. Ruby immediately looked up with a mixture of hope and skepticism in her eyes. Aaron just recrossed his arms. "There is a warehouse that has been cleaned out in expectation of building of a new dorm building in its place for the next school year. However, now I feel if the space would be better served by housing your dragons."

Both of the Riders looked at Ozpin in surprise. "Yes!" Ruby blurted out. She immediately covered her mouth and recomposed herself. "I mean, that would be very much appreciated."

 _Nalia,_ Aaron called out, _what do you think?_

She didn't respond immediately. _It would make us visible, which is what we've been looking for since we've been here. But, we would also be dependent on this Ozpin. Also, what are the odds that a warehouse has been cleared out just when we know we need a place of safety?_

 _He definitely has a plan, and we're involved somehow. No one would just do something like this with no strings attached. So, do we go along with this?_

Another pause. _What about you? If you're out on your own, that defeats the purpose of having a shelter in the first place._

"What about me?" Aaron asked Beacon's headmaster.

"I understand that you also need a place to stay, but what I have to offer you comes at a price," Ozpin said.

 _Here it comes,_ Aaron thought.

"The only way I can get you a place to stay is for you to attend Beacon, as a student."

Aaron was surprised again, but not as much as the younger Rider beside him. She looked back and forth between Ozpin and Aaron. "What?" she asked either one of them.

"You would be treated like any other student," he continued, "and as such you will need to go through an initiation trial before you start classes. If you fail, though, there is not much else I can do."

 _He's placing a claim on us. I don't like this, but still..._ Aaron thought back over the past three years, _it's been so long since we've felt safe._

Aaron felt his dragon's longing over their mental link. _Ruby and Cerise will need someone to teach them._ _If Ruby trusts Ozpin, I think we should too. She is smarter than she lets on. And… I'm tired of running and hiding. There is no point if there is a place for us to stay free of danger._

 _The trial they have planned can't be much more difficult than the training on Vroengard anyway._ Aaron turned his attention to the headmaster. "We accept, and thank you for your offer." Ruby beamed up at the other Rider. She could barely contain herself if the emotions she put out were any indicator. Ozpin merely smiled while Glynda wore a slight scowl. Apparently the second in command of Beacon didn't approve.

"I am glad to hear it," Ozpin stated. "There is an open room in the dorms currently. I'm sure Miss Rose can show you the way."

Ruby looked up at the headmaster. "Um, me?"

"Room 315. I'm sure you know the way. The keys will be waiting for you with my secretary downstairs." Ruby's eyes brightened up even more and looked up at Aaron expectantly, which kind of unnerved him. Ozpin picked up a tablet of some kind from his desk. "It looks like your dragons are on their way here right now." The two Riders immediately turned back to the elevator and entered it. "Oh, and Aaron, welcome to Beacon." The elevator doors closed and the box started to descend.

An awkward silence filled the elevator for a few seconds. "So," Aaron finally spoke up, "what's so special about room 315?"

"Oh, heh, that's just three rooms over from mine," Ruby said rather sheepishly.

"Oh," the silence returned for the rest of the return to ground level. Ruby picked up the keys from the secretary and left the building with Aaron right behind her. The older Rider tossed an idea through his head. He knew he needed to teach Ruby how to be a Rider, but he didn't know how to proceed. "Ruby," he eventually said. She turned back to look at him, still wearing the smile from Ozpin's office. "I know this will sound weird, but, I would like to be your mentor."

Ruby blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Do you know what it means to be a Rider? Do you know what you can do now that you are one? Do you _know_ how much you mean to Cerise and vice versa?" Ruby shook her head to all the questions. "I know I wouldn't exactly be qualified to teach to back in Alagaësia, but times have changed there, and I'm the only other Rider here, so I'll ask again," Aaron looked Ruby right in the eyes, "Ruby Rose, can I be your Rider mentor?"

Ruby thought about it for a moment, or rather pretended to. "I don't see why not!" she said cheerfully. At that moment a roar rolled over Beacon. Aaron smiled and looked in the direction it came from. Nalia came soaring over the school, with a 'Bullhead' right behind her. She circled the landing area a few times before touching down. The gray transport landed on the pad next to her.

Students ran outside to see what made that roar, several with weapons drawn. The four Aaron and Ruby ran into earlier were among them. "Uh, Ruby, what's going on here?" Jaune asked, a hand on the pommel of his sword.

Ruby just smiled up at him. "Well, a friendly dragon just landed,"

Jaune looked at Ruby in confusion. "Friendly? How can you know?"

A small red-scaled head poked out from behind Nalia's. Cerise out a soft, high pitch roar and jumped off the larger dragon's back. Ruby's face lit up again. "That's how." She started running to her dragon, who was doing the same thing. The two met, and due to Cerise' larger mass, she tackled her Rider to the ground.

If students didn't have their weapons drawn before, they did now, all were pointed at the red dragon. No one in the crowd moved, and many held their breath. Only a few looked up when the doors on the Bullhead opened up and the rest of team RWBY stepped out. They froze in place staring at Ruby and Cerise. Yang burst out into laughter, startling everyone on the audience. "Hey Aaron, does this happen a lot?" she called.

"Until they're about six months old," he responded as he walked up to Nalia. Aaron felt the tension in the air slowly draining away. He heard parts of several conversations, a good chunk of them wondering why Ruby's team wasn't coming to her aid.

 _Well, at least they aren't trying to kill us right now,_ Nalia said to Aaron. _That's already an improvement from Alagaësia._

 _That could change very quickly._ Aaron put a hand on Nalia's snout and she hummed low and long. While the gesture was personal, it also helped convey that they weren't threats. For the most part it worked. When Aaron turned back around, most people lowered their weapons, those that still had them raised were unsure. Aaron smiled. _There are times when I like to be wrong._

Ruby crawled out from beneath Cerise and held her dragon's head in both hands, looking into her eyes. They were communicating without words, the Rider's facial expression changing every few seconds. Eventually Ruby touched her forehead to Cerise' snout. "I'm glad you're okay," she whispered.

Aaron took a closer look at the young dragon. Cerise was panting and her legs were shaking uncontrollably. Aaron put a hand on the other Rider's shoulder. "Ruby, we should probably get to the warehouse," he said.

Ruby nodded and stood up. "The warehouse is on the other side of campus. Ozpin left the keys with your other things. Let's get moving." With that, the Riders and dragons slowly made their way through the crowd. People stared but got out of the way. The other members of team RWBY formed a small honor guard around Cerise, leaving Aaron alone with Nalia. He didn't mind. Cerise needed all the protection she could get, even if the crowd wasn't hostile.

 _We weren't as invisible as we thought,_ Nalia told Aaron. _Blake said she saw me on our first day here. How many other people knew about us before now?_

Aaron thought it over. _Her, Ozpin, and Goodwitch for sure. I wouldn't put it past the White Fang to at least be searching for us._

Nalia hummed her agreement. _We may have some problems in the future then._

The group reached the warehouse without incident. It wasn't exactly a house from Doru Araeba, but the doors on it could allow access to a dragon a little larger than Nalia. Aaron couldn't even guess what needed doors that size. Probably one of those vehicles with the large boxes on the back, but even then it seemed like it was too much.

Ruby walked up to a smaller door, unlocked it and walked inside. A few seconds later, the large door opened with loud screeching sounds. Aaron winced at the sound, as did everyone else. Ruby slowly came into sight covering her ears. When the noise and the door came to a stop, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, even the dragons. "Anyone have some DW-30?" Ruby asked.

"I think it will take a little more than that to fix it," Weiss sighed. The group walked inside and Aaron took a look around at Nalia's new home. The majority of the room was a dull gray color with random stains across the floor. Lights hung from the ceiling some forty feet off the floor.

 _Well, at least we know why this building was being torn down,_ Aaron said to Nalia.

The dragon rumbled in agreement. _It's still better than running from the Forsworn._

 _Can't argue with that._

The condition of the building was not lost on the girls. "What was even stored in here?" Blake asked no one in particular.

"Dust for sure, but judging by the floor, I'd say a little bit of everything," Weiss chipped in.

Cerise rumbled unhappily up at Ruby. "I know it's not my room, but it's better than the cave, right?" the new Rider comforted her dragon. Aaron and Nalia locked eyes. This place better than a cave? They had a lot of work to do.

Nalia walked to a corner of the warehouse and settled down as best she could. Aaron removed all but one of the saddlebags in preparation to bring them to his new room. The last one contained the two remaining eggs. He checked inside just to make sure they were still there. Sure enough, one gold and one green egg rested peacefully. Aaron placed a hand on each one, knowing the dragons inside would take comfort in the presence of a Rider. Breathing a sigh of relief, he grabbed the removed bags and walked to the door.

"You ready?" Ruby asked as Aaron reached the group.

"I got everything I need," he replied.

"Okay! This way to your-"

 _No!_ Cerise interrupted. Everyone turned to look at the young dragon. She was laying in the corner right by the main door, too exhausted to move any farther. Her eyes were wide and pleading. _Stay!_

Ruby walked up to and knelt by her dragon. She gently caressed Cerise' head. "I'm not leaving you like that again. I'll be back in ten minutes, maybe less." Cerise hummed and licked her Rider's cheek. Ruby stood back up and fast-walked back to and out the main door. All the other two-legs followed.

As the group walked, many other students stared at Ruby like she suddenly grew a second head. Seeing Cerise tackle her and Ruby being okay with it must have struck an unusual chord for them. Ruby either didn't notice the attention she received or didn't care. Still, no one stopped the group anywhere across the school.

Ruby lead the way through a dorm building and stopped by a room labeled '315.' "Here we are! Your new home! Hopefully!" She handed Aaron his keys, then ran three doors down and entered the room.

Aaron unlocked his room and stepped inside. It was rather large for one person. A bed sat in the back right corner of the room and small desk on the other side. All of the walls were the same shade of off-white. The only real color in the room came from the red curtains and bedding. For the people of Remnant, it was probably rather bland, but for someone had been running for their life for the past three years, the room might as well have been a mansion in central Ileria.

Aaron threw his bags on his bed as he heard footsteps thunder past his door. "Would someone please explain what's going on here?" he heard Jaune yell in the hall. Aaron walked out of his room to see the commotion. Team RWBY minus their leader stood by their room. Across from them stood the four that tried to talk to Ruby earlier.

"Sorry about Ruby," Yang apologized. "She's had a rough day."

"You remember that night when Ruby 'fell out of bed?'" Weiss asked. Jaune just nodded. "That was the night Cerise hatched for her."

"Cerise? The dragon?" the red haired girl asked.

"Why didn't she tell us? I bet that dragon was cute when it was young!" the orange haired girl rambled.

"She," Aaron cut in. All the other students looked over at him, just noticing the Rider in the hall. "Cerise is a she. As for why Ruby hid her, I'm sure she had her reasons."

"I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met," the red-head said.

"My name is Aaron Benson, Rider of Nalia Quickwing."

Jaune nodded after a second's hesitation. "Well, I'm Jaune Arc. This is Pyrrha Nikos," he gestured to the red-head, "Nora Valkyrie," the orange-haired girl, "and Lie Ren," the other guy with a pink strip in his hair. "We're team JNPR, first years like team RWBY."

Aaron looked over the newly introduced team, then nodded. "Well met, team JNPR. I'd stay and chat longer but I need to get back to my dragon." He turned around and started walking back to the dragons' warehouse.

"Well met? Uh, you guys know where he's from?" Jaune asked someone quietly, but Aaron heard it anyway. The Rider shook his head. He added the phrase to a growing mental list of things he needed to stop saying. As much as he hated having to cut even the smallest ties to his home, he needed to blend in. Well, as much as he could with a green dragon following him everywhere.

Instead of walking straight to the warehouse, he wandered around the grounds for a while. He thought he recognized what some of the buildings were. A forge, an armory, the buildings with the stacked bedrooms. Then there were a few that were large enough for several dragons the size of Master Glaedr. With no dragons native to this land, why would buildings need to be that size?

Eventually Aaron set his sights on the warehouse. He didn't realize how long he walked around, the sun was setting over the ocean to the west. His stomach rumbled for his attention for the first time, and the Rider realized he hadn't eaten since his meal with team RWBY nearly eight hours ago. During that time he expended a lot of energy healing Cerise. He knew he'd be eating like a Kull in the morning.

 _Be quiet when you open the door,_ Nalia said as her Rider approached. _The others are already asleep._ Aaron opened the human-sized door slowly and looked to his left. Sure enough, Ruby had her arms wrapped around Cerise' neck while a wing covered the girl.

Aaron smiled at the sight. _Her arms are going to be sore in the morning._ He quietly walked up to Nalia who already lifted up a wing for her Rider.

 _By the way, Ruby left a little food here for you if you're interested._

That caught Aaron's attention. _Where?_

 _I moved the box to your usual spot._ Somehow Aaron didn't notice the small red box by Nalia's belly. He opened it and saw four light brown circles with black spots scattered around each. Aaron smiled. The last time he had cookies was before Vroengard.

 _She say what the black spots were?_ Aaron asked.

 _I think she said 'chocolate chips,' or something along those lines._ Aaron cautiously took a bite, then his eyes rolled into the back of his head. The cookie was nice and warm, whether it was from being fresh or from being so close to a fire breather, Aaron didn't know or care. He guessed the chocolate chips were something only Alagaësia's elite had access to, if even them. Aaron stuffed the remaining cookies into his mouth, then collapsed against Nalia, satisfied.

 _Well that was something,_ Aaron thought happily.

 _Little Cerise had some too. She had the same opinion._

Aaron took a look around the warehouse. _I'll see what I can do about this place while we're here. Get these stains out of the floor, add some color to the place, and just make it livable in general._

 _Well, you don't have to worry about that now. Rest. We're all tired._

Aaron yawned. _Well, good night Nalia._

 _Good night Aaron._ Nalia dropped her wing, sealing her Rider in for the night.

* * *

 **So yeah, another chapter done. I won't be focusing on team JNPR much, but they'll be around. Coming up on Volume II as well. Finals week is next week, and I only really have one, so you might,** _ **might,**_ **get two chapters next week. I will be uploading over break as well, not sure if one or two chapters though. No promises on ever getting two out in a week, but I can hope.**

 **Hopefully this will be the last of the cookies showing up for a while. For whatever reason that is what stuck in people's minds after the first few chapters. As for why he doesn't know what chocolate chips are, as far as I can tell Cocoa Beans wouldn't be able to grown anywhere in** **Alagaësia. Also, Cookies-Ex-Machina (ding!).**

 **As always hope you liked this chapter.**


	7. Explanations

**Ho-ly crap. The day the last chapter got released, this thing got nearly 600 views! Also, the number of people who favorited this story has nearly doubled. I don't know if it was the updated description or word getting out, but again thank you! All you guys are amazing!**

 **I feel I should say that I take all requests, suggestions, and other assorted ideas seriously, whether it's by review or PM. A few good ones have already come in, one of them completely changing the idea I have for the end of the story (you know who you are).  
**

 **As a clarification to solve any confusion, when I write 'older Rider' or 'younger Rider,' I'm more referring to how long they've been Riders, although technically Aaron is a few months older than Ruby, so it works in both ways.**

 **More on the timing of things, I see** **Alagaësia as sort of a medieval Europe, so I'm basing plants, animals, and food to what is commonly found there unless otherwise stated in the books.  
**

 **Without further delay, here's the next chapter. Be prepared for exposition.**

* * *

Ruby rolled out her shoulders for the umpteenth time since waking up a half hour ago. Having her arms wrapped around Cerise all night didn't agree with her body. One of the dragon's wings was in a similar situation, having rested at an awkward angle all night while covering Ruby. Neither of them regretted it.

On the other side of the warehouse, Nalia yawned and stretched out like a cat. Aaron stood a few feet away from his dragon going through this own set of stretches. "Good morning!" Ruby called out.

Aaron looked over at the other Rider and laughed. "Good and morning don't belong in the same sentence."

"One of those people huh?" Ruby walked up to Aaron, shaking her head.

 _No, he likes the morning,_ Nalia said, _he just doesn't like waking up and having to move._

Ruby chuckled. "That I can relate to." She heard a low growling sound and she turned to Aaron. He blushed and looked to the side.

"Uh, anywhere we can get something to eat around here?" he asked sheepishly.

Ruby worked hard to stop herself from laughing even more. "There's a cafeteria here where you can eat all you want. The others are supposed to be there right now. I'm sure they'll want to hear what's really going on here."

Aaron scratched behind his head. "I do have a lot of explaining to do. Honestly though, a lot of things might have to stay between me and you and our dragons."

The younger Rider cocked her head in confusion. "Why? You don't trust them?"

"Trust isn't an issue here," Aaron threw his hands up in defense. "I'm sure if you asked them, they wouldn't reveal anything. Some things though need to be kept between Riders."

Ruby nodded hesitantly. "Okay, well, this way to the cafeteria." She walked toward the doors, but stopped when she came in line with Cerise.

 _Food?_ the young dragon asked.

"Hey Nalia," Ruby called back. "Think you could get some food for Cerise again?"

 _Of course,_ the green dragon responded, _I'll take her out to the forest so she can get some water as well._ Ruby flinched at the mention of the forest. _Don't worry, the Grimm won't get within one hundred feet of Cerise. They will die well before that._

Ruby nodded hesitantly and walked out of the warehouse with Aaron in tow. The two continued in silence until the warehouse was out of sight. "How long until Cerise is able to take care of herself again?" she eventually asked.

Aaron's eyes closed a fraction of the way like he was in deep thought. "She's strong, and she has you, so I'd give her about two or three more days until she can fly and hunt again."

"Me? What can I do?"

"You being there does more than you think, in addition to a few other perks of being bonded." Ruby kept looking at Aaron with interest, expecting him to go on. "Sorry, those are some of the things that need to be kept between us, and there are people with enhanced hearing around."

Ruby nodded and kept walking toward the cafeteria. She wasn't sure she liked how secretive Aaron was being, but if that's how things were ran back in, _What was is called, Alagaësia?_ she would go with it.

Soon after the cafeteria came into sight. Ruby proceeded toward it like it was any other day. Aaron, however, pulled back a few steps. "This is the cafeteria?" he asked.

Ruby turned back to look at Aaron. His mouth hung open and his eyes were taking in the building in front of him. "Yeah, is that a problem?"

Aaron shook his head. "It's the size some of the houses on Doru Araeba, albeit the smaller ones." He winced and looked away. Ruby wasn't sure if she should be worried about the one who offered to train her, or laugh at him. Eventually she just shrugged and waved him on.

The pair entered the building and made their way to the serving line. Several people cast glances in their direction but Ruby ignored them. They would get used to seeing Cerise around Beacon and wouldn't care anymore. At least, the young Rider hoped so. She didn't like the stares, and she didn't know how Cerise would act in the same situation.

As Ruby proceeded through the line, she felt Aaron's eyes on her the whole time, like he wasn't sure what to do. "Come on, Aaron, it's not rocket science," she said.

Aaron raised an eyebrow. "What's 'rocket science?'"

Ruby chuckled. She had a lot of work to do. "Something that very few people understand." They reached the end of the line and Ruby scanned the large room for her team. It didn't take long since Yang was standing up and waving both arms frantically. The pair from the line slowly made their way to the waving girl.

"Hey Ruby," Yang called when the Riders got reasonably close, "what happened to you last night?"

"Not much," Ruby said as she sat down at the table. "I was about to come back, but Cerise put one of her wings over me and fell asleep. I couldn't leave then."

Yang and Blake just smiled. "Makes sense," Blake said.

Weiss, on the other hand, looked mortified. "You slept on _that_ floor?" she asked.

"It wasn't that bad where Cerise was."

"Also," Aaron spoke up, "if your dragon needs you, no place is as comfortable as the space under a dragon's wing, even if you are sore in the morning or sleeping on a pile of rocks."

"I'd have to agree with that." Ruby dug into her pancakes almost as fast as Nora. As fast as she was though, Aaron was faster. He took twice the stack as Ruby, and it was gone in about half the time. Shortly after his plate was empty he stood back up to go get more.

Yang whistled. "Dang, he sure eats a lot,"

"Eating at that rate can't be healthy," Weiss sighed.

"Well, he did have a long day yesterday," Ruby defended. "I honestly don't think he had time for a real meal since lunch yesterday." Soon after Aaron returned with a plate full of bacon, sausage, and tater tots. All of it was drenched in maple syrup.

"Well, I haven't seen that before," Blake said, looking at the soggy tater tots.

Aaron shrugged. "Essentially everything here is new to me, and I like to try new things."

Yang raised both her eyebrows. "Don't tell me you've never had syrup before." Aaron shook his head. "Okay, that' stuff's universal across Remnant, whether you're in a Kingdom or not. Where are you from?"

Aaron chuckled after he stuffed a few strips of bacon into his mouth. "I figured I'd have to answer this sooner or later," he sighed. He stayed quiet for several seconds and turned his head slightly to his shoulders. Ruby figured he was contacting Nalia, what for, she couldn't guess.

Eventually Aaron focused back on the group at the table. "In case you haven't figured it out, I'm not from Vacuo, or Vale, or Remnant at all. I'm from a land called Alagaësia. If I'm remembering your history books right, technologically we're about at what you call the Middle Ages." All the girls at the table leaned in closer to Aaron, intrigued by his revelation. Even so, Weiss still looked skeptical.

"I grew up in the city of Teirm, a large, coastal trading city on the west coast of Alagaësia. I don't really remember much about my first five or so years, but I do know my parents died in a house fire when I was three." Blake and Weiss gasped in surprise. On the other hand, Ruby and Yang nodded in sympathy. Ruby also wondered why he was going into that kind of detail now.

"After the fire, I lived alone on the streets two years. Unlike here, there are no orphanages or homeless shelters in Alagaësia. There was no help for a 'street rat' like me. I did what I had to do in order to survive. Most of it I regret to this day."

Aaron paused, and his eyebrows contorted, as if was remembering something unpleasant. "One person in the city took pity on me and took me under his wing. I didn't know it at the time, but he was a master jewel thief. He could break into almost anywhere. Everyone had bounties on him from the elves to dwarves." He shuddered. "He was turning me into his apprentice, and I was too young and stupid to understand.

"I did everything he wanted me to do, from providing distractions to breaking into places myself. The only places he didn't have me break into were military and government buildings. The thing is, I was good at it. I was never caught or even noticed. No one even suspected me. Then again, who would suspect the orphan boy begging on the corner would be a master thief.

"This continued for three years. One night, he had me break into the house of the couple who owned the largest fishing company in Teirm. It was simple enough. The couple was supposed to be away on business with the house empty except for a few servants who would be asleep late at night. It started out like any other job; opening a window from the outside and creeping through the house. I made my way to the master bedroom where most of their valuables would most likely be kept. The jewels and coin were where I expected them to be, but then the couple entered the room behind me."

"I thought you said you were never caught?" Ruby interrupted.

Aaron chuckled. "Up until that point, that was true. That night was the first and only time I was ever caught, and it turned out to be one of the best things that could have happened."

The older Rider closed his eyes in thought. "Instead of trying to cut my hands off and leaving me in the street like any other people would have, they offered me food and most of the jewels in their bedroom. The food alone was enough. I only had rotten and stale food since my house burned down. At their table, they seemed genuinely interested in me. They were concerned for me. I had no idea why." Aaron sighed. "Never before had anyone showed me that kind of kindness. I never even deserved it.

"I didn't go back to that… _criminal_ , after I left the house. I left with the jewels and spent the night on the opposite side of the city from him. In the morning, I went back to the couple's house and returned what I took. They asked where I learned to steal like that. I told them and they were mortified. They weren't mad at me, they were worried sick for me. Again, I had no idea why. They offered me a temporary room in their house that could become permanent if I behaved myself.

"I told them where to find," Aaron paused and contorted his face, "my…master…and later that day he was arrested. Two days later he met the noose. Can't say I feel sorry for the bastard, but I still don't think killing him was the best course of action. He was terrified of prison. They should have let him rot." He looked up to see shocked faces. "What?"

"They _hanged_ him?" Weiss said, trying to keep her shock from being carried out of the group. "Two days after he was _arrested?"_

Aaron nodded. "Justice is swift in Alagaësia, and the punishment for many crimes is death.

"Back to more happy thoughts, the stay at the couple's house turned permanent. Apparently, they were friends of my parents before the fire. They moved to Teirm to take me in, but could never track me down. They stayed in hopes that they could find me, and I'm so glad they did. They raised me as their own after that.

"Two weeks after my tenth birthday, a Rider carrying eggs came to Teirm." Ruby's ears perked up. She leaned in even closer as to not miss a word. "Every ten-year-old is required to be brought before dragon eggs to see if they will hatch. Older kids may come as well as long as the eggs are different from what they've come in contact with before."

Aaron smiled. "The hatching time can be anywhere from a few hours to a couple of weeks. I only had to wait two days before Nalia hatched for me." He sighed. "That was the best day of my life. It's hard to describe in words, but it's like the other half of me I didn't know wasn't there came back." He looked Ruby in the eyes. "You may or may not feel that now, but you will."

Ruby looked away and blushed. "So what happened after that?" she asked.

Aaron hesitated. "All I can say is Nalia and I were brought to Vroengard, the Order's home base, for training. The rest needs to stay between you and me."

Yang crossed her arms. "So what brings you here?" she asked.

All of Aaron's previous happiness drained away in a second. "We were betrayed by one of our own. He built up an army and attacked Vroengard." He hung his head and his voice dropped even quieter. "All those loyal on the island were killed. As far as I know, Nalia and I are the last ones alive." Everyone but Ruby gasped. She heard that part in Ozpin's office.

"You really don't have to go on," Blake said while putting a hand up. "All that can't be easy to say."

Aaron nodded. "I'll just say that we've been on the run for three years, and this is the first time since the Fall that we've felt even remotely safe." An awkward silence fell over the table for a few minutes. Aaron seemed out of it and all members of team RWBY were processing what they heard.

Eventually Ruby broke the silence. "Want to hear about my time with Cerise?" she asked, trying to improve the mood.

Aaron sighed and a corner of his lip slightly rose. "I would like that." Ruby began with finding Cerise' egg in the Emerald Forest. The other Rider breathed a sigh of relief when Ruby mentioned that there were no Grimm around the egg. She moved on to Cerise hatching that night and everything that happened. Aaron cast a cautious glance at Yang when he heard of her reaction to the bonding.

"If it means anything now, I would never even consider doing it again," she defended, with more than a hint of guilt in her voice.

Aaron nodded, then motioned for Ruby to continue. She explained the team's trip to the city the day after, intentionally glossing over their rather direct encounter that day. She outlined the research Blake and she conducted on dragons, most of which Aaron corrected or denied. Ruby then explained her first unintentional spreading of her mind. Aaron's attention increased tenfold. Ruby could practically see the gears turning behind his eyes.

She went on to explain the food struggles over the first week and how she found a place for Cerise in the forest. Ruby recapped the past week quickly, as the only things that happened were Ruby's occasional visits to the cave. Then came the apartment fire and the first time she intentionally sent her mind out of her own head, when not talking to Cerise anyway. This also caught Aaron's attention, the gears in his head turning even more. Ruby didn't know what he was thinking, but it probably involved whatever training she was in for.

Ruby then went on to explain how Cerise got her injuries the day before. She started with explaining why she was freaking out in the restaurant, then how she found Cerise and killed the Beowolf pack. The younger Rider explained how she did what she could to treat the injuries and try to get her to Beacon.

"That's about when you showed up," Ruby finished.

Aaron nodded. "Did Cerise kill any of those Beowolves before you showed up?" he asked.

Ruby hesitated. "I don't know." Stretched her mind out to Cerise and asked her.

 _Two,_ she replied, _then too many._ Ruby nodded then passed it on.

Aaron covered his mouth with his hand in thought. "So this is what I'm working with," Ruby heard from behind the blockage. "I must say, for someone with no formal instruction in your mental capabilities and having no idea how to take care of a dragon, you have done fairly well for yourself."

Ruby blushed. "Well, it's not like I haven't had any help." She looked at her teammates and smiled. "They all helped out in some way."

"So it would seem. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get more pancakes." Aaron got up and walked back to the serving line.

"Well, he has mood swings," Yang commented. "People don't go from depression to intense intrigue at the drop of a hat."

"Uh, Yang, remember me yesterday?" Ruby asked her sister.

Yang shrugged. "It must be a Rider thing."

* * *

Aaron and the girls of team RWBY talked for another hour in the cafeteria before they went their separate ways. Ruby left with Aaron while the others walked to their room. The older Rider was putting together a possible training regimen with Nalia. _Combat shouldn't be an issue, since that's the main point of this school. We'll have to work from the ground up with magic though. Where and when should we begin with that?_

 _This is a problem,_ Nalia replied. _She doesn't know any of the ancient language and I doubt she would go along with that education for long without some purpose._ The green dragon fell silent for a second. _I believe her magic training should begin soon. As for what to start with, why not start with making a rock float? That's simple enough and it doesn't take too much energy._

 _And it's trick number one after those crazy assignments. If I ever see that boulder again…_ Aaron let the thought hang. _What about mental training? We can teach Ruby and Cerise how to defend their minds, but when it comes to attacking, we're not exactly experts._

 _We know the principles and how it's supposed to work, we just aren't strong in that area. They will be fine. Ruby has already shown strength in stretching out her mind, it won't take much more to teach her to break in._

 _That can be saved for last, though. We're the only other ones who can shield minds. Let's just hope it stays that way._ Aaron sighed. _We're not going to do a good job, are we?_

Compared to Masters Oromis and Glaedr, no. But even they needed to start somewhere. We'll work with what we've got and do the best we can.

The dragons' warehouse came into view and Aaron stopped in his tracks. _There are people doing something to the building._

Ruby cocked her head beside Aaron. "Motion sensors?"

Aaron looked at the other Rider. "Motion what?"

"Motion sensors. They, uh, track things that move in a certain way which in turn activates something. In this case, I'm guessing the doors so our dragons can come and go as they please."

Aaron looked back at the workers. _Did Ozpin plan this before or after we showed ourselves,_ he thought to himself. He and Ruby entered the warehouse through the former staff door and once again was surprised. The stains on the floor had been removed and the lights on the ceiling were relit. _That man really wants me to like him, doesn't he?_

Soon after, Nalia landed outside and the door lifted on of its own accord. Both dragon and Rider stared at it in surprise. It was weird enough only pushing a button and that happening, even more so with no interaction at all. Nalia hesitantly walked inside while Cerise ran up to Ruby and tackled her again. As soon as the larger dragon's tail cleared the doorway, the newly self controled door closed itself.

 _The magic here is very strange,_ Nalia commented to everyone in the room.

Ruby laughed as she crawled out from under her dragon. "There's no such thing as magic." She blinked her eyes a few times and the smile dropped from her face. She looked back and forth between the two dragons in the room. "Or is there?"

Aaron looked to Nalia who shook her head. "We'll get to that later," he said. "Right now, I'd like to clarify a few things from what you said earlier. First of all, was Cerise born with her spikes? They seem unusually short for being two weeks old."

Ruby shook her head. "Nope, they started sprouting at day three. Is that normal?"

"It's not uncommon. When dragons are born without their spikes, they tend to be more passive than others of their kind. Cerise is also a red dragon, which are generally more aggressive than others. It will be interesting to see how she matures.

"Second, while you were helping Cerise walk back to Beacon, you said you felt your energy leaving you at an extraordinary rate right?"

"Yeah, even when we were both on the ground barely moving. I just thought it was because Cerise was…" Ruby cut herself off and shuddered.

"You were right, to an extent. The energy drain you felt can work both ways, but it normally flows from dragon to Rider. Every bonded pair uses it on a daily basis for normal things. For example: the Rider can use his or her dragon's energy to boost his or her strength." Ruby's eyes brightened up.

"Also, the energy from one can be used to keep the other alive if severely injured. I'm not sure if you unintentionally sent the energy or if Cerise drew it from you, but either way is very dangerous. Too much energy could be sent or taken, threatening the life of the uninjured member of the pair."

Once again, Ruby's excitement was dashed. She looked down at Cerise who was already looking up at her. "Will she remember any of this?" she asked Aaron.

 _Dragons have nearly perfect memory,_ Nalia answered. _She'll remember her own hatching over two hundred years from now._

Ruby snapped her head over to Nalia. "Two hundred _years?"_ she yelled. "How old can dragons get?"

 _Assuming we're not brought low by blade, poison, or incurable disease, we can live indefinitely._

Ruby's eyebrows raised. "Wow, so she'll still be around when I'm long gone."

"Hopefully not," Aaron replied with a straight face. "The same applies to Riders."

The younger Rider's face lit up like the sun. "This is so cool! I could live to see the last Grimm be killed! I could walk on other planets like it's nothing! Oh, wait until the others find out!" Ruby's mirth vanished slowly over ten seconds as she realized what immortality entailed. "Oh."

Aaron nodded sympathetically. "Many people have a similar reaction. It sounds amazing, but then they remember the people they will leave behind. To make matters worse, our bodies almost stop physically aging when we reach twenty years of age. We'll look nearly the same age for centuries. I have never met a Rider who looked over fifty."

Ruby started shaking and stared at the floor. "So when Yang is old and dy… and in her last years of life, I won't look much older than I do now?"

The older Rider nodded. "Such is the burden of being a Rider. With age comes experience so we are undoubtedly the best warriors in the land, but we lose many friends along the way, and most if not all of our family. Many of the older Riders secluded themselves away from the rest of the Order, only offering advice to those who sought it, but I think they did it to prevent the heartbreak that is losing another friend."

Ruby was struggling to fight back tears, then threw her arms around Cerise. "At least I'll have you," she whispered.

"Protect her, Ruby. Without her, there aren't many reasons to continue." Aaron stood back and watched the younger pair comfort each other. Even Cerise was upset, but Aaron couldn't tell if it was her own emotion or Ruby's spilling over. Eventually the older Rider left the warehouse to leave the pair alone.

Ruby kept her arms around Cerise' neck for several minutes. She was still trying to piece what Aaron said together. Immortality? Never aging? What was the point if most people she knew were going to die of old age? She opened her eyes she didn't know closed and stared down at her dragon's back.

 _Cerise._ She was enough. Plus there was Aaron and Nalia, and there was the slim possibility of friendly Riders in Alagaësia that Aaron didn't know about.

Still, Ruby didn't want to just leave her friends, or her sister. They had to know, sooner rather than later.

The young Rider let go of her dragon then looked up at Nalia. "Is there anything else Aaron wanted to go over?" she asked.

 _Yes, but first I must ask something of you,_ Nalia said. _Aaron must_ not _know I told you about this. Do you understand?_ Ruby simply nodded.

 _Aaron is not as put together as he seems. He is broken in ways that are hard to explain. He will shatter, it's only a matter of time. I know it may be wrong of me to ask this, but will you help pick up the pieces when it happens?_

Ruby was taken aback. "What happened?"

 _Without going into detail, he continually blames himself for many decisions he's made, even if they are justified. He's been like this since I hatched for him, just the masks he's worn have changed. He…does things to himself whenever he does something even remotely regrettable. No matter how much I try, I…I can't stop him short of pinning him to the ground._

 _With this in mind, I'll ask again, will you help me look after my Rider._ Nalia looked down at Ruby with pleading eyes.

The young Rider legitimately thought this one over. If Nalia asked, it had to be important. Ruby knew regular people hardly asked for that kind of help. She didn't know how prideful dragons were, but she suspected more than the average human or Faunus. Also, she might be the only one around when it happens, and she's not one to just let someone stay at a low point.

Ruby nodded, her decision made. "I will help any way I can."

Nalia breathed a sigh of relief. _Thank you. Now, I believe you asked earlier about magic?_

* * *

 **Well another one down. This one's coming out a day early because I have one less day to do things this week and I'll still try to get a second chapter out this week. Again no promises, but I will do my best.**

 **I've re-read my previous chapters over this past week, and my gosh, Grammar Nazis, get on my case. I hate leaving small errors in and I hate even more reading them in things I consider finished.**

 **Anyway, hope you liked this little insight into Aaron's past.**

 **P.S. If you haven't seen this past weekend's RWBY episode yet, watch it NOW**

 **P.P.S. STAR WARS ON THURSDAY! FREEKING HYPE!**


	8. Training Begins

**Well, I technically did get two out in a week, but I would have preferred to get this out yesterday. Seeing Star Wars an hour early (fantastic movie, by the way) and a semi-final football playoff game conspired against me. I will try to get the next one out before Christmas.**

 **The topic of pairings has finally been brought up. Honestly, I don't ship as a general rule. Probably comes from the fact I don't care who's dating who in real life. I'm not saying there won't be any, I'm just saying it most likely won't be in your face.  
**

 **Now, in the immortal words of Mario, "Here we go!"**

* * *

 _So, how do we start this?_ Aaron asked Nalia.

The green dragon thought it over for a moment. _Start with what magic is and how dangerous it can be. That's how it started with you, isn't it?_

 _Might as well._ Aaron locked eyes with the younger Rider. "Ruby, real magic isn't like the kind you have here," Aaron told the younger Rider. "It not card tricks or pulling a rabbit out of a hat, although admittedly, you could do that if you wanted. Real magic is much more complicated, and a lot more dangerous."

Ruby grunted. "Is there anything from where you're from that's not dangerous?"

Aaron smirked. "The air is much clearer in Alagaësia." He grew serious. "Now Ruby, you can only talk about what you are about to hear to a very select group of people. Right now, that includes Yang, Blake, and Weiss, no one else. There could be serious consequences if news of this gets out, that can both directly and indirectly affect us and our dragons, not to mention the rest of Remnant."

"Whoa, that serious?" Aaron nodded. "Okay, then. I promise to keep everything between us."

"The first thing you need to know is that magic is tied to what we call the Ancient Language. To put it simply, speak something in it and put some energy into it, something will happen. For example," Aaron stuck his right hand out on front of him. "Brisingr!" a small flame burned to life in his hand.

Ruby nearly jumped a foot. "That's different," she put her left hand out in front of her and was about to speak the word when Aaron grabbed her wrist.

"Sorry, bad first example. That's a little too advanced for you right now," he said as he let go of her wrist. "Magic takes as much energy out of you as it would to do the same task by hand, well, when you get more experience with it anyway. Initially, it drains energy much faster. If you did what you were about to, you could have passed out in seconds." Ruby blinked rapidly then dropped her arm to her side.

"It can get much worse though. Some spells, in fact most spells, will drain your energy even when you lose consciousness. If too much is drained, the spell will kill you."

Ruby looked down at her feet, scolded. "So how do I get experience?"

Aaron sighed. "Starting with something easy." He took a rock out of his pocket and handed it to Ruby. "Concentrate on the rock and say 'Stenr reisa.'"

She nodded then concentrated on the small rock. "Stenr reisa," Ruby said calmly. The rock didn't even move. She said it again, with more confidence and force, and the rock still didn't move. The third time proved no better. "Am I even saying this right?" Frustration found its way into Ruby's voice.

"Nobody gets it right away," Aaron replied. "Keep at it. You'll get it eventually."

Ruby refocused on the rock and tried again several more times, more and more frustration evident in her voice. On the tenth time, she had enough and yelled, "Stenr reisa!" The rock shook and floated to a few inches above her hand. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes grew wide. After a few seconds, the rock dropped back into her hand. She wobbled unsteadily on her feet. Cerise ran over to her Rider to give her some support. "You weren't joking about the energy drain."

Aaron shook his head. "When it comes to magic, I don't joke. Even the slightest mispronunciation of a word can have disastrous results."

Ruby panted while leaning against Cerise. "Do I want to know what you mean by 'disastrous'?"

"Anything from misdirecting an attack to making a spell absolute, unable to end without completing its task or killing the caster. It's extremely hard to divert that one so dramatically though. That's why it's the one that every Rider learns first back on Vroengard."

"You said this will get easier with time, right?"

"Yes. It'll take more energy to walk up stairs than to make that rock float before you know it."

Ruby smiled through her panting. "So what else will I be able to do when I'm stronger?"

"The basics include healing almost any wounds, moving objects that are beyond your normal capability, and protecting yourself and others from many types of injury. Singing plants to life and shaping them comes later."

The younger Rider laughed. "I can already protect myself from injuries," Ruby paused and looked up at Aaron with an eyebrow raised. "Singing plants to life and shaping them? What's that supposed to mean?"

It was Aaron's turn to chuckle. "It's something that the elves came up with long ago. They sing to plants and put energy into the Ancient Language, and it grows and shapes plants. Under their care, a flower can grow full sized from a seed in a matter of minutes. Their buildings are just trees sung into whatever form is needed." He closed his eyes and tilted his head back. "Ah, if only you could see Ellesméra, the elven capital. You can see the history of the city as you move through, animals roam the streets," Aaron crinkled his nose, "and it doesn't have the stench of excrement that all human and dwarven cities have."

Ruby crinkled her own nose. "Excrement?"

"They don't have—what's it called here, indoor plumbing? Only nobility and the richest civilians can afford it."

The younger Rider shuddered. "Gross, I shouldn't have asked." She paused. "What about this Doru Araeba you mentioned earlier? What's that place like?"

Aaron's shoulders slumped. He regretted mentioning Doru Areaba before. He lost so many people there, and Nalia...

Thankfully Nalia stepped in. _We're getting off topic here, let's move on._ She cast a glance and Ruby before settling down again.

Aaron cleared his head and focused his attention back on his student. "Good idea. Now, there is more to the Ancient Language than just being able to use magic with it. When you speak in it, you can't lie, and you can't break any oaths you make, whether accidental or intentional. That's how Cerise knew I wouldn't hurt her yesterday."

Ruby looked down at her dragon who hummed and nodded in response. "How could she know it? We've never even heard of it before now."

"Well, I'm sure she doesn't _know_ it, but everyone can understand the basic meaning behind what is said. If it's directed, the meaning becomes clearer. There's a reason behind it, but the explanation is beyond me."

"So, I take it you want me to promise in the Ancient Language that I won't tell anybody about this except those you approve of?"

Aaron fervently shook his head. "Any other Rider would say yes, but I'm saying no. Forcing people to take them is too much like taking away free will. I will give oaths, but I never force people to say them."

Ruby nodded thoughtfully. She looked down at Cerise and it appeared they were having a conversation. Aaron stood silent and let them have it. After a few seconds Ruby nodded and looked back up at Aaron. "What are the words?" she asked.

"Um, to what?" Aaron cocked his head in confusion.

"What are the words to say that I won't speak of this except with you and my team?"

Both Aaron and Nalia stared at Ruby in shock. _Are you sure?_ Nalia asked.

"There's no going back after it's said."

Ruby shrugged. "Better safe than sorry so something doesn't slip."

Aaron sighed. He didn't know why Ruby would make an unbreakable oath so freely, but if she wanted to, he wouldn't stop her. Over the next ten minutes, the older Rider coached the younger on how each of the individual words are pronounced and what they mean. After Aaron coached Ruby on the order, he gave her one last chance to back down. Instead, she went along and said the oath with confidence.

"Should I feel any different?" Ruby asked after she finished.

"No, most oaths are just that. You won't notice it unless you try and go against it. You physically won't be able to."

Aaron decided it was time to move on. It was best not to overwhelm Ruby with specifics just yet. "The last major part of magic is literally all in the head, and I believe you have some rather unintentional experience with this."

Ruby rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, it kind of scared me when the rest of the team felt my emotions."

Aaron nodded. "That is common for human Riders. Just be glad the first time it happened you sent out happiness and not rage or depression. The consequences of both are terrible in their own ways.

"Anyway, there are three new things you can do with your mind now: communication, defense, and attack. The communication part is what you've done, sending your thoughts and emotions outside of yourself to someone else. I don't know if you've noticed, but you can also touch the minds of animals and plants as well as humans and Faunus."

"Wait, minds of plants? I may not be the best at biology, but I'm pretty sure plants don't have brains."

"Sorry, I misspoke. I meant the presence and energy of plants. Again, it's amazing to stretch your mind out in Ellesméra to feel all the life around you." Aaron paused for a second. "Actually, the Menoa tree, the only known tree with a noticeable consciousness is just outside the city, but that's a story for another time.

"The next two deal with mental combat. Riders, dragons, some creatures, and most other magic users can attack other minds. It's not pleasant, or so I've been told. Nalia and I have very defensive minds. No one has ever broken past our defenses, combined or not. On the attack though, if our opponent has even the slightest defenses, we can't break in."

"Wait, you _can't_ do something?" Ruby chuckled. "I guess you aren't all powerful after all."

"Everyone's got their strengths and weaknesses," Aaron agreed. "Now, the basic way to start your defense is to picture something in your mind and concentrate on that above all else. With enough practice, you will be able keep your defense up at all times. In a battle situation with other hostile magicians in the area, it will be needed. If you have to choose between attacking and defending, choose defense."

"So, all I need to do is concentrate on something hard enough and it will defend my mind?" Ruby asked.

Aaron nodded. "That's all you opponent will be able to see."

Ruby closed her eyes for a few seconds, then nodded. "Try it."

The older Rider sent out his mind to attack Ruby's. As expected, his attack was repelled. All he saw was an image of a woman in a cloak similar to Ruby's, though it was white. Aaron turned his eyes to Nalia and she nodded. She raised her tail high off the ground and slammed it back into the floor. Ruby yelped, but the strength of her defense never faltered.

Aaron pulled back into his own mind. "Well done, Ruby. The tail smash typically catches rookies by surprise."

Ruby shrugged. "I've had a lot of practice in dealing with distractions."

"Yang?"

"Yep, I've paid her back on multiple occasions though."

Aaron smiled. He wondered if that's how his younger sister and he would have acted around each other, then he banished the thought from his head. "Attacking someone's mind is a little more difficult. It starts out similar to communication, as you stretch out your mind to your opponent. Instead of just sending thoughts or emotions though, you concentrate your thoughts into a single point and drive it into your opponent's defense. Or, that's how I believe it's supposed to go."

Ruby nodded and stood in an offensive stance. "You ready?"

Aaron threw up his mental defenses and nodded. Almost immediately he felt something hit the wall in his head. It started out trying to push its way in everywhere at once. It pulled back, then smashed in at one point with surprising force. Again, the attack stopped, and again it narrowed its attack. The older Rider smiled. "Are you sure you've never done this before?"

Immediately after he asked, his legs were knocked out from under him. Aaron saw Nalia's tail fly past his line of sight. He fell flat on his back and the wind was knocked out of him. The attack on Aaron's mind resumed, but it still didn't gain any ground.

Nalia laughed at the sight of her Rider on the ground. "Yes, very funny," Aaron growled, "and no, that didn't do a thing."

Ruby sighed in the middle of laughing. "Ah well, it was worth a shot." She looked over at Nalia and thrust a fist in her direction with a thumb up.

Aaron stood up and brushed his jacket off. _So, what now?_ he asked Nalia.

 _Well, we taught her all we wanted for the basics,_ Nalia responded. _Still, I don't think she's ready to go onto more advanced magic yet. Her body won't be able to handle it._

 _Break until after lunch, then see what she can do in physical combat?_

The green dragon nodded. _I would like to see how the people here fight._

Aaron nodded himself. "Okay Ruby, we've gone through all we've wanted to for this morning. How about we break until after lunch, unless you have any questions."

"I have a few," Ruby said. "Through the whole time you've been here, you've never mentioned Aura. Do you," she hesitated, "know what it is?"

Aaron thought back over his two years of training before answering. "I've never heard of it before."

Ruby's eyes brightened. "Well, from what you've said, magic is similar to Aura in a few ways. For one, it shields us from attacks, whether it's from a Grimm attack, a sword or bullets. If something gets through, Aura can heal us faster. Some people can directly use their Aura for attack, like Ren from team JNPR.

"Everyone that has their Aura unlocked has a Semblance. For me, it's speed!" Ruby vanished in a flash of red and rose petals. Aaron followed the trail with his eyes and saw her waving at the far end of the warehouse. She ran off again and nearly blew the older Rider off his feet. "I don't know where the rose petals come from though. I think it's a one of a kind thing."

Aaron turned around and saw Ruby smiling up at him. He whistled. "You are fast. You might be able to beat Nalia in a race."

Nalia snorted smoke from her nostrils. _Don't count on it._

"I can't keep it up long distances yet. I can run a lot farther than I used to though."

"What about yesterday when you ran to Cerise?"

Ruby hesitated. "I did run all the way didn't I?" she mumbled to herself. "I think it was fueled by fear, though. I can tell just from that quick run that I can't do it now."

Aaron nodded, intrigued. "How do I get it and use it?"

"Everybody has Aura in them. I think Pyrrha describes it as 'the manifestation of our souls,' or something along those lines. After you unlock it, it will start defending you and healing your injuries, but you will need to discover your Semblance on your own."

"I'm going to have to look into this. Is there anything else you wanted to know?"

The smile left Ruby's face as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Is it possible to extend the life of someone who isn't a Rider?"

Aaron sighed. He knew this was coming. From what he heard, it always did. "It is possible to extend another's life, but not make them immortal." Ruby's eyes brightened for a second. "I know why you're asking, I'm sorry to say though all know ways of doing it can't change how the mind ages. If it's not engaged enough, the brain will rot like any other elderly person. Even if they are continually involved in something, the deterioration starts at about two-hundred-and-fifty years of age."

"Still, that's adds about a hundred and fifty they didn't have otherwise." She paused. "You said you were trying to get eggs to hatch when you were away from…when the Fall happened. Do you have any more eggs with you?"

Neither Aaron nor Nalia spoke. _Should we tell her?_ Aaron asked his dragon.

 _I feel lying to her will come back to clip our wings._ The green dragon turned her head to Ruby. _We have two other eggs with us Ruby. Both are eager to find their Riders, but that does not mean they will choose any of your teammates._

"Have there ever been Riders that are related?" Ruby blurted out.

Nalia sighed. _Yes, there have been several, but the number is few and far in-between. Dragons choose their Riders based on their personality and beliefs. Relations mean nothing._ Aaron raised an eyebrow at his dragon but made no comment.

Ruby's shoulders slumped. "So you're saying it's almost impossible for the eggs to hatch for anyone on my team?"

"The odds aren't in their favor," Aaron began, "but it's not impossible."

Ruby nodded sadly. "Well, I suppose I should be getting back to the others now." She rubbed underneath Cerise' chin before walking to the door.

"I'll see you at lunch," Aaron called. Ruby nodded absentmindedly and left the building. Aaron looked up at Nalia. _You left out a crucial detail in there,_ he thought at her.

The green dragon's wings drooped. _I didn't want to get her hopes up.  
_  
Aaron nodded and looked to the floor. "Am I going too fast with this?"  
 _  
Probably, but when was the last time we even saw our masters?  
_  
"You have a point. I just hope Ruby can take all of this."

* * *

Ruby walked slowly across Beacon to her dorm room. She tried to process everything she just learned. On the positive side, she could use magic, she was now telepathic, and she was immortal.

The young Rider shuddered at that last thought. She had the next seventy years with her team, if she didn't extend their lives with magic. After that, it would just be her and Cerise. Ruby was terrified of never aging while everyone grew old around her. What was the point of living forever if she would just end up alone? There was no telling how many people she would lose in her long life.

Ruby felt Cerise' mind press against hers. _Not alone,_ the young dragon said. _You have me._

 _Thanks,_ Ruby sent back, _but people need more than one other person to survive._

 _Aaron? Nalia?_

Ruby hesitated in her steps. _I don't know. They seem nice, but they could find a way to get back to Alagaësia and never come back. And did you hear Nalia? Aaron's unstable. He could break at any time._

Cerise took her time in responding. _Don't…fear…Focus now, not then._

… _Thanks Cerise._ Ruby didn't even realize she walked all the way to her residence hall. Luckily very few people were in the halls and even fewer looked her way. She couldn't take the attention at the moment, not with those evil thoughts in her head.

Ruby entered her to find a scene much different to how she was feeling. Yang was laughing at a joke, knowing the other two in the room, she most likely told. "Hey, Rubes, what took you so long?" Yang asked with a smile on her face. The smile didn't last long though. "Ruby, something wrong?"

"No," Ruby said quickly, then hesitated. "Yes. It was just one thing Aaron and Nalia said."

Weiss looked at her partner with a shocked expression. "Since when can 'one thing' get you down like this?"

"There had to be some positive things he said for you to be gone for so long."

Ruby smiled half-heartedly as she sat down on Weiss' bed. "There was plenty of that." She took the rock Aaron gave her out of her pocket. She concentrated on the rock and dug into the part of herself that she found contained at least one of her new abilities. "Stenr reisa." The rock obediently floated a few inches above her hand.

The three other girls stared at the hovering rock in disbelief. "That's new," Blake gasped.

"What are you now, some type of magician?" Yang asked. Ruby couldn't tell if it was a serious question.

The rock fell back into back into Ruby's hand. "Aaron says it's magic, so yeah."

"Magic?" Weiss scoffed.

Ruby rolled her eyes at the heiress. "Did you believe that dragons existed before Cerise hatched? How else would you explain this?"

Weiss hesitated, then shook her head. "I don't know what to think anymore."

"What else can you do?" Yang asked, genuine interest in her voice.

"With magic, right now just that. Aaron says I'll be able to do just about anything when I get better with it. He mentioned things like healing severe injuries on the spot and altering the way plants grow. Oh, and he produced a fireball in his hand like it was nothing."

"The fire, I get," Yang said, "but the plants? Since when do you want to be a gardener?"

"I don't really, but apparently back in Alagaësia, the elves have altered the way trees grow to live in them. A literal tree house. Aaron says entire cities are built like that."

Weiss perked up at that last bit. "A city of trees? That seems like an interesting place to visit someday."

"In addition to magic," Ruby continued, "they taught me the basics of how to control my mind for offense and defense. The communication part I already had down."

"Geez, Ruby, you're turning into one of those super heroes from the movies!" Yang exclaimed. "Could show us? Somehow?"

Ruby smirked and stretched out her mind. Without opening her mouth, she said, _Sure._ The looks on her friend's faces said that the trick worked. _Silent communication. This could be useful if we ever have to sneak around._

"Could you…track people like this?" Blake asked hesitantly.

"I don't see why not," Ruby spoke. "I think there are a few more ways to use and fine tune that technique, but Aaron hasn't taught me yet."

"Anything else cool you have up your sleeve?" Yang asked.

Ruby took a few seconds to think it over. They didn't need to know the specifics of the Ancient Language, not yet anyway. She didn't have any way to prove it either. That just left…the one thing. The young Rider sighed and looked down at her lap. "Aaron and Nalia said that dragons are immortal… and so are their Riders."

No one in the room breathed for a few seconds, then Yang nearly jumped up from her position on Blake's bed. "What's wrong that? With that amount of time, there's no way you won't be the best Huntress on Remnant in that time! Who knows? You could live on the moon someday!"

Ruby looked up at her sister, fighting to hold back tears. Yang's smile quickly evaporated. "If that does happen, none of you will be here to see it."

The mood in the room tanked. No one knew what to say. They all knew Ruby was right. "It's not just time that's the problem. Aaron says my body will almost stop aging when I'm twenty. So when you're all in you seventies, I'll barely look older than I do now." She choked on her next words. "I'm going to be alone, for a very, very long time."

Yang launched herself between the beds and pulled Ruby into a tight hug, but not one of her choking ones. "Don't say things like that Ruby!" she ordered. Ruby returned the hug and let the tears flow free. "I'm not leaving any time soon."

"I know this sounds cold," Blake said, "but everybody loses people, and it never gets easier. Even in the worst of times, though, there will be someone to pick you up."

"Ruby, we'll still be around for a long time," Weiss comforted. "None of us are going anywhere. It's not like you'll be alone when we're gone anyway. You'll have Cerise, and I'm sure Aaron and Nalia will stick around."

Cerise' mind pressed up against her Rider's again. _Never alone._

"Listen to Cerise, Ruby," Yang whispered, apparently hearing the dragon's words. "Even though we won't be standing by your side, we'll always be with you. You know that. I'm _never_ leaving you."

The room stayed silent for several minutes, and Ruby and Yang stayed in each other's arms. Eventually Ruby composed herself and pulled away from her sister. "There are a couple ways around this, at least temporarily," she said.

"I'm all ears," Yang said.

"Aaron said it is possible to extend the life of people who aren't bonded to a dragon, not aging included. On the down side, he said 'brain rot' would come when you get to be two-hundred-and-fifty. I'm guessing he meant something along the lines of dementia."

Ruby paused for a second. "He also has two other eggs with him."

The other girls perked up. "So, a dragon could hatch for us?" Weiss asked.

Yang whistled. "That would be something," she said. "Dragon Rider sisters. The Grimm better watch out."

"I think you two are missing something," Blake cut in. "There are only two eggs, and there's three of us."

"There is that," Ruby sighed. "Also, the dragons choose their Riders, not the other way around. Blood relations don't matter."

"But is it possible?" Yang insisted.

Ruby nodded. "It is, but it's rare."

Yang hesitated. "When's the next time you two are meeting?"

"After lunch, why?"

"I'm going with you." Ruby blinked rapidly and was about to protest when Yang cut her off. "Ruby, if there's even the slightest possibility of one of those eggs hatching for me, I'll take it."

"I'm with Yang on this one," Weiss said. "From just the little time I've been around Cerise and Nalia, I can tell they're intelligent and powerful, but also caring. I wouldn't mind spending a lot of time with one."

Ruby looked over at Blake who simply shrugged. "It couldn't hurt. I don't know if a Faunus could be a Rider though if there were none where Aaron and Nalia are from."

"Thanks, guys." Ruby sighed. She didn't know if any of them would be lucky enough to have an egg hatch for them, but at least there was the chance.

Yang scoffed, and Ruby looked up at her sister confused. "Thanks? Who said I was doing this for you? I just want a dragon of my own." For that, Yang received a pillow to the face.

* * *

 **Yes, I know two chapters in a row that are mostly talking is not very exciting. I promise you though, next chapter will have some action. I've honestly been holding out on fight scenes because I'm not the best with them. Hopefully this one will be decent though.**

 **Hope all you guys like this.**


	9. Tests of Skill and Will

**Wow, this story is already a third of the way to a hundred thousand words, and I'm nowhere near a third of the way through the story. I did not think this thing would get to be this long when I started this.**

 **A lot of people have been asking where this story will be heading, and I will not be confirming or denying anything that I have planned for the future. Plans change all the time, like some things in this chapter were originally planned for during/after Volume III. Those of you asking, thank you. I'm glad I have your attention. Also, to the one who pointed out that I forgot to mention true names…I honestly completely forgot. I'll hit it when the next Rider is revealed.**

* * *

Team RWBY slowly made their way to the cafeteria. Ruby regained much of her previous composure thanks to her friends and Cerise. Just because she was cracked on the inside didn't mean people would be able to see it on the outside.

A small high pitched roar made its way across the courtyard. Students were running away from one point on the far side. Soon enough, Ruby saw Cerise sprinting across the courtyard at her. Only a few seconds later the red dragon tackled her Rider to the ground. Both of them were laughing in their own ways. "Is this going to be a regular thing with you?" Ruby asked.

 _Yes,_ Cerise replied while backing off Ruby. _Fun._

"Can't argue with that." Ruby stood up and dusted herself off. She caught a glimpse of Weiss rolling her eyes, yet at the same time trying to hold back a smile.

"Awww, they're so cute together!" The young Rider turned around and saw team JNPR walking up to her. Nora looked like she was about to pounce on Cerise while Ren was ready to hold her back if needed. Jaune wore that oblivious smile he always had around Beacon, and Pyrrha walked with her usual air of confidence. In other words, just a normal day for the team.

"Um, thanks?" Cerise made a noise her Rider couldn't place and moved behind Ruby as if to hide. Ruby put a hand on her dragon's head. _They're friends, Cerise,_ she comforted.

"So Ruby, when where you going to tell us you had a dragon?" Jaune asked. He didn't sound offended or angry, just curious.

"Well, if all went according to plan…" Ruby thought it over. When _did_ she want to introduce Cerise to the world? And why didn't she tell JNPR? _Nora, right._ She decided to go with something that seemed remotely sane. "…I would have ridden Cerise into the main courtyard when she was big enough to carry me. Looking back though, that seems like a bad idea."

"Why even hide her in the first place?" Pyrrha asked.

"She's shy, she didn't even like Yang for a while."

Yang shrunk down a little and rubbed the back of her neck. "I can't imagine why," she joked. Cerise snorted a puff of smoke in her direction, then let out a dragon's chuckle. "We're fine now though." Yang scratched behind one of the dragon's ears.

"Can she breathe fire?" Nora blurted out.

Ruby shook her head. "I don't think so yet, but I've never seen the smoke before, so it could be soon."

 _Not quite,_ a voice spoke in Ruby's head. Jaune looked like he was about to panic, while the rest of his team looked around confused. The rest of team RWBY smirked at their friend's confusion. Ruby turned around and saw Nalia slowly making her way across the courtyard. _Dragons can puff smoke at quite an early age. Fire comes around six months of life. Cerise still has a long way to go._

Ruby slumped her shoulders, slightly disappointed. Jaune, meanwhile, took a step back. "Y-You can talk?" he stuttered.

Nalia snorted. _Not like you know it, but yes, I can._

The young Rider looked back up at the green dragon. "Weren't you going to take Cerise out hunting again?"

 _No!_ Cerise said excitedly. _You, Aaron, fight!_

Ruby looked at her dragon, confused. "Um, what?"

 _Aaron wants to see how you fight,_ Nalia replied. _You know the basics of everything else, now he needs to know how competent you are in battle._

Ruby smiled. "Of course! I've been wondering the same about him!" She took out her Scroll and started searching for times sparring arenas around Beacon were available.

"That could get interesting," Weiss said. "Aaron most likely has a style that has never before been seen around here. That combined with Ruby's…unique style could make an impressive fight."

"Mind if we all tag along?" Yang asked for everyone.

Nalia turned her head slightly to the side and her eyes unfocused slightly, probably talking with Aaron. After a few seconds she refocused on the group in front of her. _We see no problem with having an audience. You are all welcome if you want to come._

"There's an outdoor sparring arena open in an hour on the other side of the dorms," Ruby announced. She tapped a button on her Scroll and booked the arena. "Now it's ours. That should leave us with enough time to eat."

"Mind if we join you?" Jaune asked, warily eyeing Nalia.

"Of course not. I'm sure Aaron would love to meet you guys. He doesn't really know anyone here besides us anyway." With that, the two teams and dragons walked together to the cafeteria. The conversation turned to the final exams they all had. They all hated that professor Port had a few questions on his various exaggerated adventures, and that Doctor Oobleck had a strict time limit which made answering at least two questions per minute mandatory.

Many people along the way stared at the dragons walking across campus. Cerise positioned herself between Ruby and Nalia as if they provided some protection. Ruby placed a comforting hand on her dragon's shoulder. _Cerise, what's wrong?_

 _People, stares, no like,_ Cerise whined.

Ruby sighed. _They're just curious. They've never seen a dragon before._

 _Weapons. Scared…_ Cerise looked over at Yang, _...they like Yang._

Ruby gasped. Weiss looked over at her teammate, but Ruby shrugged her off. Ruby wondered how she could miss her dragon's fear of people. _Cerise, no one here will attack you,_ Ruby comforted. _They have no reason to and they would get in trouble if they do. Anyway, they would be stupid to attack when you're surrounded by the best first year teams and another dragon that can take down Deathstalkers like they're nothing._ Cerise nodded, but still focused on the ground directly in front of her.

The group arrived at the Cafeteria and met Aaron outside. The older Rider apologized to team JNPR for his shortness with them the day before. "I had a long day yesterday," he said. "I just wanted to be alone and clear my thoughts."

Everyone who could fit through the doors entered the cafeteria and started talking. Aaron explained to JNPR the basics of where he was from and what a dragon Rider is, while leaving out is personal backstory. He also told them about the Fall and how he ended up in Remnant, leaving out any mention of magic. Ruby listened intently to see if she missed anything before, but she learned nothing new.

"There's something that isn't making sense to me," Pyrrha said. "If the Dragon Riders were among the best warriors in Alagaësia, how could so few take down so many?"

All eyes turned to Aaron. That question had been in the back of Ruby's mind as well. The older Rider sighed. "Superior tactics, ambushes, and trickery. Those the Traitor recruited were masters of the blade. We didn't stand a chance." He shook his head. "Enough of my sob story. What exactly is there to do around here except attend school and eat?"

"Well, if you're a cultured sort of person," Weiss answered immediately, "the theater scene in Vale is one of the best in the world. I don't know if you've been down Main Street in your time here, but it is home to some of the most revered theaters anywhere. Not even the Orphway in Mistral can compare."

Aaron nodded. "I don't think there's a Rider who doesn't have respect for the fine arts."

"Uh, Weiss," Yang said, "the VMC is on third."

"I'm not talking about a movie theater, you airhead!"

Yang laughed. "Anyway, I'm sure you've seen by now that we have moving pictures by now right? Well, movie theaters play what we call 'movies,' which has the same principle of the theaters I'm sure you're used to, but not live, and can be so much more exciting."

"I don't know, I've seen some exciting dramas in Ileria."

The blonde smirked. "Have there been explosions on stage? Major battles between thousands of people? Spaceships?"

Aaron raised an eyebrow. "Spaceships?"

Yang's smirk turned into a full blown smile. "Well, it looks like I'll have to introduce you to Galaxy Wars at some point."

"Originals first, sis," Ruby chipped in.

"Is there any other way?"

Jaune let out an exasperated sigh. "What is everyone's problem with Bar Bar?" Everyone at the table looked at him with concern, except Weiss who grimaced, and Aaron who didn't know who Bar Bar Jinks was. "What?"

"Anyway," Ruby began to change the topic, "there's Forrest View on the other side of the city. It's one of the largest amusement parks in the world, and it has thirteen roller coasters."

Nora perked up and turned to Ren. "I know what we're doing tomorrow! We haven't been there in ages!"

Ren shrugged his shoulders. "Fine with me."

"What's a roller coaster?" Aaron asked.

"You have to ride one to really know," Ruby responded.

"I'd assume it's about as close to riding a dragon as normal people can get," Blake added.

Aaron raised his eyebrows at Blake. "Really? I'm really going to have to check that place out."

Ruby looked at the time on her Scroll. "We have about fifteen minutes to get to our sparring field."

"How long will it take to grab our weapons and make it to the site?" Aaron asked.

The younger Rider thought it over for a second then froze in place. "About fourteen." Ruby grabbed her food tray and ran to the dish return at a normal person's speed. She dumped the tray on the revolving return and made for the doors while the rest of the group was just standing up. As she left the building, Cerise ran alongside her. _I'll meet you at the arena,_ the Rider thought at her dragon. She quickly thought over the map of campus in her head. Before she could tell Cerise directions though, she turned and started walking in the direction of the arena. Ruby slowed down and watched her dragon walk off. _How did...What? Did I just show Cerise a map?_ She shrugged. It was entirely possible.

Ruby continued to her rocket locker and grabbed Crescent Rose from inside. She folded it up into the little box for carrying it discretely. Aaron and Nalia would get a kick out of the reveal. Ruby quickly made her way to the arena to try and get there on time. She didn't like being late and she didn't know what Aaron thought on the subject.

She made it to the Arena just in time to not be late. Aaron was on the main floor while everyone else, including the dragons, stood on the sidelines. "Cutting it a little close, aren't you Ruby?" Aaron called as the younger Rider made her way into the arena. The older Rider looked over the younger. "Where's your weapon?"

Ruby smirked. "Right here." She pulled the compacted Crescent Rose out of her pocket and pushed a button. The red and black sniper-scythe formed in her hand. She stuck the tip into the ground and smiled. "Aaron, this is Crescent Rose."

Aaron and Nalia gaped at the sight. "How is that possible? There's more material now than could possibly fit in that box!"

Ruby chuckled. "That's _my_ secret. I don't just give that away to anyone."

 _You made that weapon yourself?_ Nalia asked, bewildered.

"Everyone here but Jaune made their own weapons."

Aaron looked around with a shocked look on his face. "You are all weapon smiths?" All the Beacon students nodded, except Jaune of course. "Impressive. The Riders only ever had one sword-smith. At a time." The last part sounded like it was added as an afterthought.

"Well let's see your sword," Ruby encouraged. Aaron shrugged and drew his sword. Ruby gasped. She just thought the scabbard was meant to match Nalia's scales, not the blade itself.

Aaron smiled at the blade. "This is Redemption, one of the last swords ever made for the Riders. It's forged from Brightsteel, the metal of a fallen star. Like all Rider's swords, it is nearly indestructible."

Ruby stared at the blade from her position in the Arena. "If I'm guessing right on the metal used, it's strong, but not that strong."

The smirk disappeared from Aaron's face. "Special techniques are used to enhance the strength." Ruby took the hint and dropped the topic. He apparently still didn't want JNPR to know about magic.

Aaron raised his sword into a defensive position. "Are you prepared?"

Ruby tugged on Crescent Rose and the point removed itself from the ground. "Are you?"

All remaining emotion drained from Aaron's face. "Then let us begin." He started circling around the arena watching Ruby carefully. Ruby decided to make the first move. She ran over to Aaron swinging Crescent Rose behind her. Aaron froze and place and rose Redemption. Ruby swung at her teacher, but he deflected it with surprising speed and strength. In the same motion, he twirled and elbowed Ruby in the face, or would have if her Aura allowed it. Still, Ruby reeled back. Before she could recover, she felt cold steel touch her neck. She froze in place, unwilling to move.

Aaron still wore the same emotionless face, which unnerved the younger Rider greatly. He lowered his sword after a few seconds. "I'm going to assume that you haven't warmed up and that was a careless mistake." He walked back to his original starting position while Ruby stood frozen in place.

Ruby looked over at those on the sidelines. Her teammates and JNPR wore expressions of amazement. Cerise looked worried for her Rider. Nalia, by contrast, had the same expressionless mask as Aaron. After a few seconds Ruby made her way back to her starting position and prepared for another fight.

The two Riders circled each other, neither making a move toward the other. Eventually Aaron lunged at Ruby, who caught the slash on the rifle part of Crescent Rose, just on the other side of the scope from her fingers. Aaron drew back and slashed again, this time at her right shoulder. Ruby blocked again, but only just. The older Rider attacked repeatedly, forcing the younger to stay defensive. Aaron swung a particularly strong slash toward the back of the rifle section which knocked the weapon out of one of Ruby's hands. Again, Aaron pointed the tip of his sword at his student's neck.

"Better," Aaron said as he lowered Redemption. "You haven't faced many sword users have you?"

"No," Ruby said. "How did you get so fast?"

"I've trained with elves. They are much _faster_ and stronger than any _normal_ person. I've even bested them on occasion." The emphasized words did not go over Ruby's head.

Both Aaron and Ruby returned to their starting locations. Ruby eyed her teacher carefully. If he was fast, she would have to be faster. She activated her Semblance and swung at Aaron. He blocked, but it was late and he was forced back a few steps. Ruby rushed again and slashed at Aaron's torso. He blocked and was forced back, but he managed to get a swing at Ruby's cape before she could run off again.

Ruby changed tactics slightly. Aaron was perfectly capable at blocking a single speed attack, but what about multiple at close range? The younger rider charged the older and slashed multiple times. Aaron blocked them all, but only just. Just when Ruby thought she was getting the upper hand, Aaron slashed at her arms. Instead of Ruby's Aura absorbing the damage, the blade slammed full force into her arms. She yelped, dropped Crescent Rose and fell to her knees. This time, Aaron didn't place Redemption anywhere near Ruby's neck.

"Your Aura didn't block that?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

"It prevented the cut but that's about it," Ruby moaned. She heard Aaron whisper a few words, but didn't recognize any of them. When he was finished, the pain disappeared. Ruby sighed in relief.

"I'll keep that in mind." He paused and bit his lip. "You ready to be done for now? I can understand after that hit."

Ruby shook her head. "No. One more round. There's one more thing I'd like to show off." Aaron nodded hesitantly. He walked back to his spot and looked up at Nalia. An unheard conversation passed between them. Ruby returned to her own spot and ticked the safety off on Crescent Rose.

Once more, the two Riders faced each other. Aaron charged, which was exactly what Ruby wanted. She pointed Crescent Rose straight down and fired. The two Alagaësians could just stare at the girl who just flew twenty feet in the air. Ruby landed and dug the scythe end into the ground and lined up a shot. Aaron figured out what was coming and moved to get out of the way. Ruby tracked him and fired.

It was a good thing she missed Aaron's center of mass. The Dust round passed right through his shoulder.

Aaron screamed and fell to the ground, convulsing from the Lightning Dust. Nalia roared and jumped over to her Rider and stood over him. Those still standing in the sideline were frozen in place, trying to understand what just happened. Ruby was also frozen to the spot. She dropped Crescent Rose in shock.

Nalia turned on Ruby with rage in her eyes. _Why did you do that?_ the green dragon demanded. _He bruises you and you try to remove his shoulder? What justice is that?_

"I…I didn't…" Ruby stammered.

The angry dragon growled. _You didn't think! That's the problem with all you two-legs, you don't think over your actions._

Cerise jumped in front of Ruby and growled back at Nalia. Ruby glanced back at the people on the sidelines. Those that had their weapons aimed them at the green dragon. Nalia growled at the students. "Guys, weapons down!" Ruby yelled. "Don't make this worse." All but Yang slowly lowered their weapons and Nalia returned her attention to Ruby.

Nalia looked like she was about to give Ruby another mental lashing when she snapped her head to the underside of the wing on the far side of her body. Instead of the growls from a few seconds ago, she hummed comfortingly. She stayed in that position for several minutes. Eventually the green dragon stood up and took a few steps back.

Aaron stood in her place rolling his shoulder out. "I liked that jacket," he said as he removed the destroyed piece of clothing. "Anyone know a good tailor around here?"

Ruby hesitated before she spoke. "I'm sorry! That usually doesn't happen. I thought your wards would be able to deflect that." She slapped a hand over her mouth as she realized what she just said. Aaron said she wouldn't physically be able to speak about their training with anyone but her team, even accidentally. When did he approve of team JNPR? Only a few minutes before it sounded like he didn't. Then again, there wasn't a hole in his shoulder anymore.

The older Rider waved her off and walked in her direction. "I thought the same thing. There's no permanent damage, so no harm done. What was that you shot though?"

"A .50 caliber Lightning Dust round." Ruby grabbed Crescent Rose from the ground and removed the magazine. She took out another of the Dust rounds and handed it to Aaron. He turned it over in his hand and looked over every minor detail. Aaron mumbled something under his breath, most likely in the Ancient Language.

"Nalia, help me remember:" he said, "normal wards don't protect against Dust rounds." Aaron blinked rapidly like he just had an epiphany. He looked back at Nalia with a strange look on his face. "Normal wards don't protect against Dust rounds." Nalia's expression changed from guilty and concerned to hopeful in the span of two seconds. Aaron smiled like he just won the Vytal Festival Tournament. He turned back to Ruby. "You may have just given us a chance at reclaiming Alagaësia."

* * *

Aaron walked back to the warehouse with team RWBY. Team JNPR made their excuses and left the group shortly after they exited the arena, with Jaune looking sick. Aaron stared at the Lightning Dust round in his hand. _This could be the key to taking down Galbatorix,_ he thought to Nalia. _The problem is how do we get enough back to Alagaësia._

 _And getting close enough to use it,_ Nalia said. _He will know we're coming from miles away, and will most likely attack us while behind the Forsworn, and the army he's built up._

 _True, but we at least have a chance now. When we're ready, we'll go back._ Aaron returned his attention to the warehouse. Luckily no more additions had been added, at least none visible on the outside. He still wasn't sure if he trusted Ozpin or not. The man was too kind, too insightful. The only ones Aaron knew were genuinely like that adopted him seven years ago.

The group entered the warehouse and sealed the doors behind them. "You have a name for this place yet?" Yang asked.

"No, why" Aaron asked.

"It's not exactly a warehouse anymore, and it isn't just another building."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Does everything have to have its own name?" she asked. Aaron smirked. She had no idea.

"How about the Dragonhouse?" Ruby chipped in."It's simple enough."

"It's too simple sis. Come on, you can do better."

"Actually," Aaron interrupted, "I think it fits. This is about the size of a typical dragon's house back home. There could be worse anyway."

Yang shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat."

The older Rider turned semi-serious. "Now, will someone tell me why you all insisted on coming here?"

Ruby rubbed the back of her neck. "I told them about the other eggs, and they were…curious."

"Did you now?" Aaron sighed. He saw this coming a league away. The thing he didn't know was if Ruby could take the probable rejection of her teammates. He looked over at the unbonded women. "I'm going to tell you what I was told the day I was first brought before the eggs in Tierm. Being a Dragon Rider isn't about adventure or glory. It's about protecting people, whether it's from war, crime, disease, or themselves. It's a lifetime commitment and responsibility, and I'm sure Ruby has filled you in on how long that life can be."

"When you put it like that, being a Rider is not too different from being a huntress," Blake said. "I don't really see the negatives."

"I agree with Blake," Weiss said. "If anything, the two can build off each other."

"I just want to get better and better," Yang said, but lacking some of her usual confidence. "Having a dragon by my side would help with that a lot." Her eyes flicked over to Ruby for a fraction of a second. Aaron knew there was more to Yang's reason, and he couldn't argue with it. Family was important no matter where you're from.

Aaron nodded. "Then you all will be brought before the eggs." Nalia knelt down beside him and he removed the saddle bag that held the two eggs. He walked over to a now clean, table height ledge hanging off the wall. The unbonded members of team RWBY followed the older Rider, while Ruby, Cerise, and Nalia hung back. Aaron placed the eggs on the ledge a few feet apart. He turned back to face the women. "Just place you hand on each egg for a few seconds. That will give the dragon inside enough time to see if you are worthy.

"Blake, you first." Blake stepped forward and placed a hand on the green egg. She held it there for a few seconds, then moved on to the golden. Out of all the girls, Aaron thought Blake was the least likely to become a Rider. It wasn't something with her personality, but the fact that she was a Faunus. The bond with dragons was only tied to elves and humans. Faunus are half animal, but the half human part may be enough.

"Weiss, you're next." The heiress walked up to the eggs and went through the same process. If Aaron was right, Weiss wanted to make a name for herself. He saw many of the same actions and attitudes among younger Riders and regular humans. Weiss most likely had a rough childhood and wanted to overshadow her parents. Then again, from the little time that he'd known her, Aaron saw she had a warm and caring heart under the cold exterior.

"Yang, you're up." The blonde placed her hand on the green egg, then moved to the gold. She paused with her hand hovering a few inches above the egg and cast a sideways glance at Ruby and Cerise. Yang finally placed her hand on the egg and held it there for a long time. She backed off after about twenty seconds, four times as long as any other placement.

As for Yang's chances, she seemed the most likely and one of the least for an egg to hatch for her. At least some of her motivation was unknown. If she really wanted to get better, there were plenty of other ways to do it, and most of them were less dangerous. However, she appeared to be the only one to _really_ want an egg to hatch for her. Was that, and the golden egg's relation to Cerise enough?

"So how long until we know if one of us has been chosen?" Blake asked.

"Hatching times can vary from a few hours to a few weeks," Aaron said. "The eggs will also only hatch if their Rider is near. I suggest you all come by here at least once per day for the next two or three weeks."

"Why don't we take the eggs back to our room?" Weiss asked.

Aaron shook his head. "Nalia and I are responsible for the eggs' safety. I already failed with Cerise' egg, I'm just glad it turned out to be a happy failure. No, the eggs will stay with us."

The girls nodded. "Well, we're going to be here a while," Yang said. "Anyone got Scrollflix? Aaron needs to see Galaxy Wars."

"Wars isn't on there, Trek is though," Weiss said.

Yang put a hand over her eyes. "Not another Trek is better rant."

While the two girls argued, Aaron made his way over to his student. "Ruby, can I talk to you and Cerise for a second?" He gestured to the far side of the Dragonhouse.

"Sure," she said. The two Riders and the red dragon walked together to the empty corner. Nalia positioned herself between the group and the rest of the girls. "What's this about?"

"I must apologize for something I did yesterday." Aaron rubbed the back of his neck. "In the clearing, I was paying close attention to Cerise' condition, and I heard her first word."

Ruby made a confused face while Cerise growled. The younger Rider looked down at her dragon. "Is it that big of a deal?"

 _It is,_ Nalia responded. _A bonded dragon's first words are intended for his or her Rider, and **only** the Rider. Those that hear, intentionally or not, are subject severe punishment from the offended dragon and Rider._

Ruby blinked several times and her jaw dropped slightly. "How severe?"

"Anything short of dismemberment," Aaron responded in a flat tone.

Ruby looked down at Cerise and an unheard conversation passed between them. The young Rider shook her head a few times, then Cerise nodded once. "Well, you were making sure Cerise was alright, and I did almost take your arm off earlier, so we're even."

Aaron sighed. "Thank you Ruby. That is all I wanted to say for now."

"I do have a few questions though. Is it possible to send pictures in my head to Cerise?"

"Of course. In fact, that's a wild dragon's primary form of communication. You'd be surprised how many times it's more useful than just using words."

"One more thing," Ruby paused, "do you think either of the eggs will hatch for them?"

Aaron closed his eye and dipped his head. "Only time will tell."

* * *

 **And that, my readers, is why I haven't written with JNPR much. I hope that fight scene was at least decent, I didn't want it to be too fast like the Nevermore fight in the first chapter. Also, yes, I did make Weiss a Trekkie.  
**

 **Only one chapter in between this one and the food fight. Time has moved slowly in the story so far, but it will pick up in Volume II.**

 **Hope all of you have a Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/Happy Kwanzaa/any others that I'm forgetting.  
**


	10. Exchanging Expertise

**Going forward, keep in mind I've never held a real gun in my life and all my gun knowledge comes from Fallout and a TV show from a few years ago. So PLEASE, correct me if I'm completely wrong on things. As for some gun laws, a fifteen year old girl has a fully functional .50 cal sniper, and most likely had it a few years before going to Beacon. Future huntress or not, I don't think gun control is much of a thing in Remnant.**

 **I should probably explain how Dust/Aura counters magic. I'm going with they counter each other. Aura can protect against physical attacks but can't protect against mental or attacks on the body in other ways. Magic wards can only protect against things the caster knows about. With no real knowledge of how Dust works, Aaron's wards would do absolutely nothing to stop that lightning Dust round.**

 **Once again, a chapter is split in two, so my earlier predictions of how long until the food fight, initiation, and the next egg hatching are pushed back again. Sorry for the inconvenience.**

* * *

There were two major things Aaron learned in his week of training Ruby. The first was that she was a fast learner. Ruby ate up any challenge her teacher threw at her. She progressed past floating a rock to breaking boulders in the Emerald Forest. In regards to wards, she cast some basic ones that protected from sctatches and the like. Due to Rhunön's ward piercing enchantments, Redemption cut right through Ruby's Aura, something that weapons here couldn't do. Either she encountered or heard about Aura before, or some combination of spells worked to The only reason she still had arms was because Aaron blocked his sword's edge before Ruby arrived at the arena that first day. Her mental attacks became more and more vicious as time went on. The state of her defenses, however, Aaron nor Nalia could judge due to their inability to assault other minds.

Secondly, Aaron was completely outclassed in physical combat. While he technically won every one of their sparring matches, Ruby always held back. Her Semblance gave her too much of an advantage, and the wards to fend of the Dust rounds fired from Crescent Rose ate up too much of Aaron's energy. He needed his Aura unlocked so both of them could use their full strength. Pyrrha offered to unlock his Aura at one point, but Aaron rejected because of the…intimacy of the process.

Ruby also could attack from an incredible range. In fact, most students, law enforcement, and even civilians had weapons that could attack from far away. Aaron needed a weapon to attack from range. A bow and arrow seemed like the logical choice to someone who trained in using them, but the range and power of such a weapon were out classed so heavily by something that could fit almost in the palm of a hand. So, Aaron and Ruby were walking to the Armory on the outskirts of Beacon's campus to get the older Rider a weapon that he could use to even the odds.

"So how's Cerise doing today?" Aaron asked Ruby as they left the dorm.

Ruby beamed at the thought of her dragon. "She's doing great! She killed an Ursa today by herself. Nalia took out the other three, but she got one!"

Aaron chuckled. "That's one more than I have. She coming back yet, or is she still hunting?"

"She's been flying back for a few minutes now." As a confirmation, a loud roar came from behind the two. Aaron turned his head and saw the not-so-small red dragon flying right toward them, or more specifically, Ruby. Knowing what was coming, the older Rider took a few steps away from his student. Ruby's shoulders tensed up. "Here we go again."

Cerise slammed into her Rider at full force. Aaron winced. That had to hurt, even through Aura and wards. The scar on Cerise' leg caught his eye. For whatever reason, the scales there refused to regrow. It wasn't infected, and the skin beneath had healed, so Aaron saw no reason why they shouldn't be growing back. The dragon didn't seem to notice though, so the Rider stopped worrying.

Ruby playfully shoved Cerise' head away from her own. "You're getting a little too big to keep doing that," she said.

Cerise stepped back a few steps to let her Rider up. _I will only be too big when your Aura is drained in one hit._

"She's got you there, Ruby," Aaron laughed.

"By the way, nice job with that Ursa." Ruby patted her dragon on the shoulder.

Cerise puffed out her chest. _The first of many, I'm sure._

"Ruby, I believe we should get going so I can get my time slot in the firing range."

"Oh, right." Ruby turned and led the way to the armory. Cerise walked alongside her. "What else are you and Nalia doing today?"

 _Nalia is taking me on 'agility' training in the mountains. Not sure what she means exactly, but I'm guessing it's to work on flying close to cliffs without hitting them._ Aaron smirked. Cerise didn't say anything wrong, but she didn't know about what she had to carry while flying.

"She's not pushing you too hard, is she?" Ruby asked.

 _Not at all. She knows my limits before I do._

"Nalia's been through the training before," Aaron said, "and on a much more strict and challenging regimen. We aren't trained in teaching though, so we're making this up as we go along." _And probably missing some important things._

Ruby laughed. "What would your teachers say if they saw your teaching style?"

"I'm not sure if they'd berate me or congratulate me, or some combination."

"Well I think you've been a great teacher so far."

"Let's see if you have that same opinion when we move away from combat." By that point, the group was just outside the armory. Cerise turned around and flew off to the mountains while Aaron and Ruby walked inside. The walls were lined with all sorts of merchandise. Weapons ranged from simple knives to what Ruby called a 'double-barreled rocket launcher.' The armor showcased varied from vests and other patches that could fit under clothes to the full sets of plate armor that was worn in Alagaësia. Aaron had his ruined jacket repaired and brought it here to get it armored. Armored clothing was fairly popular, if looking around at students in the cafeteria proved anything.

"What exactly are you looking for?" Ruby asked.

"Something small, or something that's good at both long and short range."

Ruby brought a hand to her chin, as if in deep thought. "A pistol or an assault rifle." She walked over to a display case with various types of handguns. She pointed to one of the larger ones inside. "How about the Desert Falcon? Technically both this and Crescent Rose are .50 cals, but the ammo is completely different. Back to this thing, it's fairly close range, but it does the job. If adjusted right, it can have some good stopping power. Looks like this one can fire eight rounds before reloading."

Aaron looked in the case. The Desert Falcon was definitely the thickest handgun in there, but it still looked relatively easy to handle with one hand. "This one looks good for a tight situation," he said.

Ruby nodded the walked over to a wall labeled 'assault rifles.' "As for one of these, I'd suggest the V4. It's getting old, but it's reliable. Police have been using it for years. The military used it when it first came out, but they've upgraded in the past few years."

"What's the purpose of the ridges on the barrel?"

"Various attachments. A flashlight, another grip," Ruby smirked, "a grenade launcher."

Aaron raised an eyebrow. "Grenades are those small, metal things that blow up, right?" Ruby nodded, and Aaron grinned. "Okay, I'll have to check this one out too."

"Great! I'll talk to the quartermaster and see about getting you some test weapons." While Ruby ran off to talk to the man behind the thick pane of glass, Aaron looked around some more. His eyes rested on the shields in the back corner. He always fought with a shield back in Alagaësia, and he did miss having one when he sparred with Ruby. He was glad he ordered one of them when he brought in his jacket.

After a few minutes, Ruby waved Aaron to the back room. The Desert Falcon and the V4 lay on a table inside, along with two pairs of earmuffs. "Quartermaster said only one magazine for each," Ruby said.

"Where is he anyway?" Aaron asked. "Shouldn't he be here when people are testing weapons?"

"Pfft, he knows me, and I know more about some of the weapons here than he does." She picked up the Falcon and one set of earmuffs and walked over to the firing line. "First off, _never_ point a gun at someone unless you intend to shoot them." Ruby listed off several firearm safety rules that seemed like common sense to Aaron, but those rules are made for a reason.

After finishing her lecture on safety, Ruby put on her earmuffs and motioned for Aaron to do the same. "The safety is on the end of the slide here." She flicked the switch she pointed at, then faced down range. An image of a Beowolf appeared at the far end. "Line up the target in the sights," Ruby brought the gun up to eye level, "and gently ease back on the trigger."

The Desert Falcon made an extremely loud bang heard even through the earmuffs. The gun spat fire and launched a piece of metal flying at the fake Beowolf at incredible speeds. A red light lit up on the Grimm, right in the center of the mask. Ruby fired three more shots, all landed within an inch of the first. The Falcon jumped back in the young Rider's hands after each shot, but she controlled the bucking weapon like an experienced stablehand. She flicked the safety on again and pointed the gun at the ground.

Aaron whistled and removed one side of his earmuffs. "Nice grouping there. I've only seen some of the elves get that close in such a short time."

Ruby shrugged. "It's been too long since I've fired anything other than Crescent Rose. I'm slipping." She shifted her grip to the barrel of the weapon and offered it to Aaron grip first. As the older Rider stepped up to the firing line, Ruby snapped her head back to the wall behind them. "Why is Nalia having Cerise carry boulders while flying?"

"Because you never know how much she'll need to carry someday. It also builds stamina."

"Okay," Ruby said, really not understanding. "Be careful when firing that thing. It has quite the kick." Aaron focused on setting his grip on the Falcon like Ruby had. After a few seconds he had the right grip, then raised the weapon to eye level. A few pieces of iron stuck out of the top of the gun that looked to form a line. Aaron pointed this imaginary line at the Beowolf's chest. He attempted to flick off the safety with an index finger several times before getting it. Ruby snickered behind him.

Aaron slowly pulled back on the trigger. The expected sound and flash came out of the end, but he didn't expect the gun to come flying back at him. He stopped the barrel of the gun only an inch from his nose. "Barzul!" he yelled, using the old dwarvish curse. "You weren't kidding about the kick." He looked downrange at the Beowolf. A red dot appeared roughly where he intended.

"No one ever expects recoil on that level on the first shot." Ruby was visually and audibly trying to hold back a laugh. "Finnish your shots with that and we can move on." Aaron raised the Falcon back to eye level and targeted the dot he made before. He fired once, and controlled the kickback much better than he did before. The shot landed just to the right of the first. Aaron fired the remaining two shots in quick succession. Those shots also hit their target. Even though the gun was empty, he flicked the safety back on.

"This one is definitely an option," Aaron said as he placed the Falcon back on the table.

"I've never seen anybody take to the Desert Falcon so easily," Ruby replied with the V4 already in hand. She ejected the magazine, looked inside, and then pushed it back into place. "This one has less kick and power to each bullet, but fires much faster and has a longer range. The V4 has a standard thirty round magazine, and can fire single shot or a three round burst."

Ruby brought the weapon up to her shoulder and aimed at the Beowolf again. She flicked the safety off then fired one shot, quickly fired by another two. She flicked the safety switch again, and three bullets flew out next time she pulled the trigger. Aaron noticed something about these shots though. They weren't concentrated on one point. It wasn't until Ruby fired three more bursts until Aaron figured out why. Two in the eyes, one in the nose, the rest forming a smile.

"Showing off? Aaron asked, a smirk on his face.

Ruby shrugged and flicked the safety back to its original position. "When you have the bullets, why not?" She handed the V4 to Aaron. "The safety on this one also controls the fire rate. The first notch is a single shot, the second is the three shot burst."

Aaron took the weapon and stepped up to the firing line. He turned the safety switch to the single-shot position and aimed at the Beowolf. The Rider pulled the trigger and launched a bullet at the fake Grimm. It hit right in the center of the creature's head. Aaron fired two more shots, concentrating on a close grouping. They landed just on either side or the first. Aaron switched the V4 to the burst-fire setting, then fired one at the Beowolf. The three bullets landed one on top of the other. Aaron fired the remaining three bursts into the target, all ending up in the head of the fake Grimm.

The older Rider lowered the weapon and smiled. The V4 felt right. It wasn't as good of a connection between him and Redemption, but then again, nothing could come that close. "I like this one," he said.

"Are you sure you've never shot a gun before?" Ruby asked, her tone suggesting that she was in a state just short of awe.

"I've never even heard of guns before I came here." Aaron flicked the safety back on and set the V4 back on the table. "So what's the purchasing process like here? Something tells me it's different than it is at a clothes shop in the city."

"It's not too different. We need to let the quartermaster know we're done then pay up at the booth. He'll need to see your ID too. You do have your scroll on you, right?"

Aaron dug into a pocket and felt around for the device he received from Ozpin only two days before. He didn't understand most things it could do, but he did know that it at least could be used for long distance communication and identification. As expected, the scroll sat inside one of the side pockets on his jeans. "I have it."

Ruby nodded, then knocked on the door to the back room. A few seconds later the quartermaster came out and started to talk with the younger Rider. Aaron meanwhile sent his thoughts out to Nalia. _How is Cerise doing?_ he asked.

 _She is carrying about a quarter of her weight with no problem,_ Nalia responded, a hint of pride in her mental voice. _I think she's ready. She just needs to be fitted._

 _You have the surprise stored somewhere, don't you?_

 _In our cave. I'll send Cerise back to the Dragonhouse while I fetch it._ Aaron pulled back into his own mind just as Ruby apparently finished saying something funny to the quartermaster. The man grabbed both weapons and walked back into the backroom.

"Did I miss something?" Aaron asked his student.

"Nothing you would understand," Ruby said, trying to hold back a laugh. "Come on, Ash said he'll meet us around front." Aaron shrugged as Ruby led the way up to the supposedly bulletproof glass.

"You find what you were looking for?" the quartermaster named Ash asked.

"I think I'm going to go with the V4," Aaron said. "I believe I also have two other things reserved as well."

"I'm going to need to see your ID." Aaron handed his scroll to Ash through the depression between the glass and the wooden ledge. Ash placed the scroll under a red light. Something beeped and the quartermaster looked at something Aaron couldn't see.

"It looks like you have a shield and an armored jacket to pick up. I'll go grab them from around back." Ash disappeared into the backroom. Ruby began telling Aaron about the various weapons in the main room. She started out slow and slowly picked up speed as she talked. Aaron followed along for the most part, but he couldn't understand more than half of what his student said.

Luckily Ash returned from the backroom before Ruby could burn herself out. He placed the shield, jacket, and V4 in a drawer on his side of the glass. "Will this be going on your student account or will you be paying in some other way?"

"Student account will be fine." That was the only way Aaron could actually pay for the gun. While he still had a substantial amount of Lien from his…activities in his first two weeks in Vale, it wouldn't cover half of the V4.

Ash nodded and pressed a few buttons. "Okay, you're all set." He pushed the drawer on his side and it opened in front of Aaron. "Hope these serve you well. Ruby, don't let him hurt himself with anything here."

Ruby laughed. "Don't worry, he's a natural with the V4."

Aaron grabbed his jacket out of the drawer and held it up. The hole Ruby accidentally made was sewed up expertly. No trace of blood existed either. The jacket itself weighed a little heavier. The only visible armor plates rested on the shoulders and elbows. The front and back felt like they were filled with a mix of plate armor and some type of armor Aaron didn't recognize. He turned the jacket around and saw the symbol he asked to be sewed on: a white silhouette of a dragon in full flight. Aaron smiled and put the jacket on, barely noticing the weight increase.

The older Rider slung his new V4 over his back, then picked up and inspected his shield. The same symbol on his back gleamed on the metal shield, only in forest green instead of white. Overall, the initial impressions of his new equipment were good, but Aaron wouldn't know how it all held up until he got in a fight. He looked back up at Ash. "Thank you for you service, sir," he said.

Ash smiled and nodded. "Come back anytime." With that, Aaron and Ruby left the armory, heading back to the Dragonhouse to give the younger Rider a chance to earn that title.

* * *

"Why is Nalia having Cerise come back early?" Ruby asked.

"You two are going to do some training together," Aaron responded.

"So, we're testing each other's mental capabilities again?"

"That's part of it."

Ruby narrowed her eyes. "Why do you have to be so cryptic about everything?"

Aaron smirked. "This time I just want to see the look on your face when Nalia arrives." Ruby blinked a few times. This was either really god or really bad.

Cerise was already waiting in the Dragonhouse when the two Riders arrived. For once, she didn't tackle Ruby on sight. She just looked over at her Rider and hummed. _Apparently boulders are easier to break than they are to carry,_ she told Ruby.

 _Come on, it couldn't have been that bad,_ Ruby said as she patted her dragon on the shoulder. _You're not about to collapse._

The red dragon nodded. _Nalia has some other plans for today that I'll need my strength for. I don't know what._

Aaron said that we'll be training together on something, but I don't know what that could be.

"Nalia's almost here," Aaron called as he walked over to the pair. "Let's see if I can time this right."

"You have some sort of dramatic reveal planned?" Ruby asked.

Aaron smirked. "Something like that. Now, I'd like to say that you two are progressing far faster than I expected. It might be Nalia's and my training techniques, but I'm expecting it's you two. I've never heard of a human Rider able to split a boulder with only a few days of training, and Cerise is growing at an extremely fast rate, even for a dragon." Ruby blushed and Cerise looked away slightly.

The main door of the Dragonhouse opened slowly, revealing Nalia holing something in one of her front paws. "Now it's time for the both of you to know why we're called Dragon Riders." Nalia dropped what she was carrying and Ruby gasped. It was a saddle. There was nothing fancy about it, just a plain, brown leather saddle.

Ruby couldn't hold back her smile. It was a blank slate. She could do anything she wanted with it. As long as it fit Cerise, it was perfect. Cerise shared in her Rider's excitement. The red dragon walked up to the saddle and looked it over herself. She gently flipped it over and sniffed it. Cerise nodded, satisfied.

"Normally, you'd be taught how to make your own, but honestly," Aaron scratched the back of his neck, "I'm terrible at it. After several less than adequate attempts, my friend Brom helped me out. He actually made most of it while I just helped with measuring and fitting."

"I'm sure I could figure it out myself." Ruby walked over to the saddle herself and knelt down beside it. She looked over the straps and ran them through her hands. They felt both smooth yet strong. "How hard was it to find one with straps this long?"

Aaron sighed. "Finding a place that sells saddles was hard enough. Only one in the city would extend the straps to that length. Trust me, in the coming months, you'll need every inch."

Ruby picked up the saddle, looked over at Cerise, then back at Aaron. "How exactly do I put this on?" Over the next ten minutes, Aaron explained the proper way to saddle a dragon, from where to place it on Cerise' back to how tight the straps should be. Ruby insisted on doing all the work herself, with Aaron only telling her what to do.

When Cerise was properly saddled, she stood up and moved all her joints to make sure she could still move. She snorted her approval. _This will work,_ she said. _It's light and it doesn't impede my movements too much._

Ruby smiled, then thought of something that could be a problem on a long flight. "Do saddles chafe?" she asked.

Aaron shook his head. "Only if you clamp your legs." he looked over at Ruby, "Just trust Cerise and leave the flying to her. You'll be relaxed in no time."

"Good to know."

 _Would you two stop talking?_ Cerise asked as she shook her back end. _Get over here so we can fly._ Ruby didn't need to be told twice. She jumped from the ground directly into the saddle and strapped her legs in. The red dragon quickly moved outside the Dragonhouse and waited for Nalia. Cerise' excitement radiated off her. _I can't wait for you to feel the wind!_ she told Ruby exclusively. _You'll never want to walk again._

Aaron climbed onto Nalia's back while she was moving out the door. "You might want to hold onto that spike in front of you," he called. "Also, while in the air, mental communication is best. We won't be able to hear one another due to the wind." With that, Nalia lifted her wings and drove them down, flinging her and her Rider into the air.

Cerise looked back at Ruby. _Hold on tight!_ She lifted her wings and held them there, making her Rider's anticipation grow. After a few seconds, she plunged them to the ground. Ruby gasped and tensed up her grip on the neck spike in front of her. She wasn't expecting that much G-force, and she almost impaled her own head on the spike. Cerise slowed her ascent but didn't stop climbing.

As the dragon flew, the air grew slightly colder. Ruby suddenly wished her hood and cloak were thicker, even though they couldn't be that high yet. She looked down at Beacon and saw the ground already a thousand feet below her. "Wow," she said, more to herself than anyone. She'd been in flying vehicles before, but she'd never felt so exposed, so free.

The two dragons reached about a quarter mile off the ground. Aaron stood in his saddle arms outstretched and eyes closed. Ruby snickered. She thought she saw the same pose in a movie once. Cerise roared at Nalia, and she roared back. The two dragons lined up side by side in the air, and Aaron strapped his arms to his saddle. Ruby looked at the back of her dragon's head. _Cerise, what's going—_

Cerise shot forward in a burst of speed, sending Ruby back in her saddle. If she hadn't strapped her legs in, she would have fallen back to the ground below. With some effort, Ruby grabbed the neck spike again. Her eyes watered due to the sheer amount of air rushing past her face. She blinked her eyes several times to try to get the tears out, but it didn't help.

Still, it felt so good. Cerise flew about as fast as Ruby could run with her semblance. But Ruby didn't feel the wind while she ran. The G-forces when Cerise banked and rolled were more intense than any roller coaster could produce, and it was all random. No track for anticipation. This was an entirely new experience, and she loved it.

After several minutes of free flying, the dragons hovered over the city of Vale. They roared at each other again. Cerise was panting, tired from the exertion. Ruby returned her gaze to the back of Cerise head. _Next time you take off like that, warn me please._

Cerise turned back with a gleam in her eye. _No promises._ The Rider and dragon shared a laugh.

 _Looks like I'm going to have to get some motorcycle goggles after all._

 _Wasn't Yang pressing you to get some before?_

 _Yeah, she was._ Ruby looked at the ocean to the west. She smirked as an idea popped into her head. _Speaking of Yang, time to make her super jealous._ She explained her idea to Cerise, and she agreed. The red dragon gained height and flew over the ocean. Nalia and Aaron followed close behind, even though they had no idea what their students were up to.

Cerise flew to about two miles over the ocean. The wind blew fiercely and had a bite to it, but Ruby didn't plan of staying up there long. She untied the straps around her legs and threw her right leg over to the left side of her saddle. As Aaron reached the same height and saw what Ruby was doing, he nearly panicked. _Ruby!_ he screamed with his mind, _What are you doing?_

Ruby just smiled and yelled with her voice and mind, "Skydiving!" She slid out of the saddle and started her free-fall. Her arms spread out by instinct to slow her fall. Cerise circled around her Rider in a more controlled descent. Once again, skydiving was a new experience. The closest she ever came to it was being flung into the Emerald Forest for initiation, and there she had trees and Crescent Rose to break her fall. Here, it was just her, gravity, and the water below. Ruby saw a bird in her way and barely twisted her body in time to miss it.

A few hundred feet above the water, Cerise decided Ruby fell far enough and eased into her Rider saddle side up, then slowly leveled out her wings, bringing them into a fast glide. Ruby struggled to catch her breath as Cerise landed on the beach. She slid off the saddle and lay against her dragon's side. About a minute later Nalia landed next to them. Aaron jumped off his dragon's back. "What the heck was that?" he demanded. Ruby couldn't tell if his anger was genuine or not.

"That. Was. Awesome!" Ruby said when she caught her breath. She turned her head to Cerise and gave her a thumbs up. "Nice catch." She patted her dragon on the shoulder.

Aaron stood dumbfounded, then broke into laughter. "That did look like fun. What did you call that? Skydiving?"

"Yep, it's normally done with parachutes though. I guess we don't need them though."

Aaron continued to laugh. "I guess we don't. I'm surprised no one's tried that before. Now, I can't believe I—" Aaron snapped his head toward the city. Nalia did the same and growled.

Ruby looked at the two in shock. "What's going on?"

Her teacher pointed a finger toward the heart of the city. "Extend your mind about a mile in that direction." Ruby did as instructed. At first she didn't see or feel anything out of place, and was about to pull back when she found what Aaron and Nalia did.

Ruby scowled and Cerise growled. A little girl was being kidnapped.

* * *

 **Yes, I am leaving you there. This chapter was getting long and I had to end it. Aaron's POV was extremely painful to write and is the reason this chapter is coming out today and not a few days ago.**

 **Regarding the weapons, the two guns are Remnant's (my) version of real life guns. The Desert Falcon is the Desert Eagle, and the V4 is an M4 carbine. Don't worry, the V4 won't stay as is. I do have plans.**

 **For those of you reading on New Year's Eve, party safely and have/be a DD.**


	11. ANCR to the Problem

**So I finally typed up an outline for this story. Not counting Volume III episodes past Fall, I have the basic ideas for FOURTY more chapters! It's going to be Halloween again before I'm finished with this, and that's assuming I don't take breaks for one reason or another, or split up chapters, or add more. This is going to take a while, and I have NO intention of abandoning this.**

 **Just a warning. This chapter is the darkest chapter I've written so far. I think it could be darker than the last uploaded episode. Reader discretion is advised.**

* * *

Ruby stared down at the nondescript red car a few hundred feet beneath her. From the outside, it was no different than any other car on the road. Somewhere inside though, a little girl was scared for her life. Ruby, Aaron, and their dragons had followed the car for several blocks, looking for a safe place to stop the vehicle. So far, every street was packed with people and other vehicles.

Cerise tensed up beneath her Rider. _This is taking too long,_ she growled. _We should go now before they go another block._

 _Patience Cerise,_ Nalia snarled. _If we take him down now, civilians could be endangered just by us landing. Anyway, this bastard isn't going to get away. I doubt one of those vehicles could out speed a dragon._

 _You'd be surprised,_ Ruby said. Soon, the car on the ground turned down a side street with minimal foot traffic. Ruby tightened her grip on a fully extended Crescent Rose. _I think this is our chance._

Across the sky, Aaron nodded and grasped his V4. _Let's do this. Cerise, land behind the car. We'll take front._ With that, Nalia folded her wings and dove for the ground at incredible speed. Cerise followed suit at a slightly different angle. Ruby closed her eyes tightly to keep them from tearing up. If it came to a fight, she had to be ready.

Nalia landed in front of the car and immediately blocked the road with her body. She snarled at the driver, showing a rare event of true anger. Cerise landed hard behind the vehicle, jarring Ruby. She recovered quickly and jumped out of the saddle, the rifle end of Crescent Rose pointing at the car.

Aaron dismounted Nalia and aimed his own weapon at the driver. "Step out of the vehicle now, and you will not be harmed," he yelled. Nalia growled and curled her claws to accent the statement. Ruby saw the driver look in his side view mirror, most likely to look for an escape route. Unfortunately for him, he would have to go through both an angry Huntress and dragon.

After what felt like several minutes of waiting, the driver's side door opened and the kidnapper stepped out with his hands in the air. Aaron cautiously stepped forward with his weapon still raised. Still, there was some uncertainty in his eyes. _Ruby,_ he asked mentally without changing his face, _what exactly is acceptable for your police to do in this situation?_

If the situation was different, Ruby would have laughed. _Tell him to get face first on the ground and spread out his hands._ Aaron blinked, the only sign he heard Ruby. The older Rider did what she said though, and the kidnapper dropped to his knees, and then to his stomach.

Aaron lowered his weapon and approached the criminal. "Ruby, get the girl," he ordered. Ruby closed Crescent Rose and searched the car with her mind. She located the poor girl in the trunk and ran over to the car. The young Rider cast a spell to unlock the trunk.

Ruby opened the trunk and gasped. She knew that there was a girl in there, but she didn't know her condition. Her wrists and ankles were bound together and her mouth gagged. Bloody scratches ran along her face and arms. Only one dog ear stuck out of her hair, blood oozing from where the other should have been. Her whole body was shaking from fear and pain. This was the worst case of Faunus abuse Ruby had ever seen in person, or heard of for that matter.

"Come on, let's get you out of there." Ruby stuck an empty hand out to use cast a spell to break her bonds, but the girl's fear spiked and wormed her way to the back of the trunk, where she shook even more. Ruby quickly brought her hand back, shocked herself. She expected the girl to be happy to see her to get her out of the trunk. How did people do this? Ruby searched through her training to find the right words to hopefully calm her down. She knew they were there somewhere. She put on the warmest smile she could when she found them. "Eka aí fricai un Shur'tugal." I am a Rider and a friend. Ruby put some energy into the words so the girl would hopefully understand.

Thankfully, the girl stooped shaking and her breathing slowed. Tears started streaming down her face. Ruby stuck her hand out again and cast the spell. The bonds around the girl's wrists and ankles ripped and fell away. She tore at the cloth in her mouth and ripped it off. She took a few deep breaths, then looked back at Ruby who still held her hand out. The girl hesitantly took the Rider's hand.

Ruby helped the Faunus girl out of the trunk and on to the ground. She nearly collapsed as she put her weight on her right foot, so Ruby carried her over to the curb. The Rider sat the girl down on the curb. "I'm going to do what I can to treat your injuries," she said. "This may itch a little, but you'll feel better when it's done." First Ruby stopped the bleeding from the stump that used to be an ear. Ruby checked the Faunus' right leg and found out that it was broken. She bit her lip. Aaron had only touched on that once before, but he was occupied. With Cerise' help. Ruby repaired the damage to the leg. The girl squirmed while the bone reset itself, but gave a sigh of relief when it returned to its normal condition. The only remaining visual injuries were the cuts. They were numerous, but thankfully not deep. Ruby sealed them all with a few more spells. She tried to keep her exhaustion from showing. That took more out of her than she thought it would.

When all the cuts disappeared, the Faunus girl ran her hands over arms and legs. Her face slowly turned from one of fear to amazement. She moved a hand up to her ear stump and her spirits fell again. "Can—can you fix my ear?" she asked.

Ruby frowned and thought it over. As far as she knew, it was possible regrow it, but she wasn't nearly that far in training. She looked over at Aaron, who had the kidnapper folded over the hood of the car. He stared into the back of the criminal's head like he was trying to get some information out of the criminal. _Aaron,_ Ruby hesitantly called.

 _What?_ came the quick and short response.

 _Can you do anything about her ear?_ Aaron looked over for the first time at the girl from the trunk. His face was one of confusion mixed with anger. He looked her over several times trying to figure out which ear, then he focused his eyes on the remaining dog ear. His face cleared in realization.

He turned to Nalia and jerked his head at the kidnapper. She nodded then growled at the criminal. Aaron walked quickly to the two sitting on the curb. The girl squeaked then grabbed onto Ruby's arm. She looked back and forth between Cerise and Nalia rapidly. "What are they?" she whispered.

Ruby placed a hand on the girl's. "They aren't Grimm. They're dragons, and they're very friendly." She gestured over at Cerise to come closer. The dragon came, though slightly confused. The younger Rider scratched behind her dragon's ear, her favorite spot. Cerise leaned into it and started humming.

The girl stopped gripping Ruby's arm so tightly. "Like a big kitty."

Ruby nodded and smiled. "Like a big kitty." She had the same thought many times before.

Aaron knelt down in front of the girl and looked her in the eyes. "May I take a look at your ear?" he asked.

The girl hesitated, then nodded. Aaron sat down on the curb and placed a hand a few inches of the girl's head. She squirmed a little, but otherwise didn't move. Ruby decided it was probably time to break the ice a little and calm the girl down. "So, what's your name?" she asked.

The girl paused for a second before answering. "Violet Calrow."

"Hi Violet. I'm Ruby, this is Aaron, that is Cerise, and over there is Nalia." Ruby gestured at each person and dragon in turn. "We're students at Beacon academy."

Violet nodded, then seemed to realize something. She looked around frantically, tightening her grip on Ruby's arm again. Tears started to flow again. "Where am I? Where's my mommy?"

Ruby hesitated. She had a feeling that was coming. "We're on the northeastern side of Vale. Where were you when you got…separated from your mommy?"

The girl stayed silent for several seconds. "We were walking home from a movie. I saw a Lien card on the ground, then…" Violet closed her eyes and started sobbing. Ruby wrapped her arms around the girl. That was probably the wrong question to ask, but at least she had a rough idea of where Violet's mom was. There were several movie theaters on this side of the city, but only one of them in the direction the kidnapper drove from.

Police sirens finally could be heard over the noise of the city. Ruby looked in their direction and saw three police cruisers a few blocks down. They sped down the street and screeched to a stop a couple dozen feet in front of Cerise. The officers exited their vehicles, and several of them pointed their weapons at the red dragon in front of them.

Ruby and Cerise tensed up. They saved a little girl from a kidnapper and now they were being targeted? It wasn't right. Thankfully, one officer grabbed the gun of another and pointed it at the ground. "You heard the chief," he yelled to all the officers. "They're from Beacon. They aren't hostile." The police lowered their weapons, but several kept their weapons ready. The red dragon and Rider released some of their tension as the officer in charge walked up to them.

Aaron sighed and stood up. "I'm sorry Violet. There's nothing I can do at the moment." He moved to meet the police officer on the other side of Cerise. They exchanged a few words and Aaron pointed at the kidnapper who was being held in place by Nalia's glare.

Cerise gave off a strange feeling as she looked Violet in the eyes. _I think I may be able to help,_ she said.

Violet blinked several times. "You can talk?"

The red dragon hummed her confirmation. _I can do much more than that._ She moved her head in close to Violet's. The Faunus girl froze in fear. Ruby knew Cerise wouldn't do anything harmful, but she still had no idea what her dragon was doing besides scaring the life out of Violet.

Cerise touched her snout to the girl's forehead, then quickly took a few steps back. She lowered her head to the ground, and took on the face of a dog asking for forgiveness. Ruby stared at her dragon for a few seconds, then turned to apologize to Violet for the confrontation.

Before Ruby could speak, she noticed _two_ dog ears sticking out of Violet's hair. The one that was only a stump seconds before stood out, though without any hair of its own. Violet hesitantly reached up and rubbed the spot where Cerise touched her forehead. Her hand traveled up and bumped the tip of her new ear. She gasped, then ran her hand up and down her ear and tugged it a few times to make sure it was real.

Ruby looked at Cerise in disbelief. "How did you do that?" she asked out loud.

Cerise just shrugged, still keeping her head low. _I felt like I had to._

Violet looked at Cerise with an expression Ruby couldn't read. The girl got up and slowly walked over to the red dragon. Cerise slightly lifted her head off the road. Violet stopped right by the dragon's head, then wrapped her arms around Cerise' snout. "Thank you," she whispered. Cerise hummed and slowly blinked her eyes.

Ruby was so focused on the sight in front of her, she didn't see Aaron walking up to her. "The police have this criminal, and now we need to go," he said. "There's more of them out there."

The younger Rider looked up at her teacher as she stood up. "More of who?"

Aaron grimaced. "More kidnapped Faunus. It seems there's an organization in the city involved in their sale."

Ruby froze. "Sale?" She looked down at Violet and Cerise. Who would do such a thing to anyone? She turned back to Aaron. "Where?"

"2187 South Fifth Street. The police are heading there now, but if Violet's condition is anything to go by, they'll need us there." Aaron turned around and walked back to Nalia.

Ruby gulped, then placed a hand on Violet's shoulder. "I'm sorry, but we have to leave now."

Violet looked up at Ruby, fear creeping back into her eyes. "Why?" she asked with a tremble in her voice.

The young Rider knelt down to look Violet in the eyes. "That bad man has done the same thing to many others. The police will need our help to find and heal them. There are many officers here to watch you until your mommy comes to get you." Violet hesitated, then nodded. She removed her arms from around Cerise and took a few steps back.

Ruby stood up and waved an officer over. He was a little hesitant to approach Cerise, but he did make it over. "What can I do for you ma'am?" he asked.

"Violet needs someone to look after her until her mommy gets here. Would you be able to do that," Ruby took a quick look at the officer's name-tag, "Officer Bradburn?"

Bradburn took a quick look down at the Faunus girl and put on a genuine smile. "I think I can do that." He got down on one knee and started talking to Violet, trying to calm her down and to get to know her. Ruby meanwhile jumped into Cerise' saddle and strapped in. She looked over at Aaron who was already in position on his dragon's back. He nodded, then Nalia jumped into the air. Cerise followed the larger dragon immediately.

The two dragons flew with all possible speed toward the place where the Faunus were being held against their will. Ruby tried not to think about what she'd see inside. She knew she'd remember how Violet looked when she opened the trunk for the rest of her life. If her condition was any indication of how the others would be… Ruby shuddered at the thought.

They reached the building just as a SWAT team arrived. The dragons hovered above the building, unsure if the roof could hold their considerable weight. Ruby and Aaron jumped off their dragons and drew their respective weapons. Aaron decided to go with his shield and Redemption. "Ruby, search the building," he ordered.

Ruby stretched out her mind to the building below. "I'm counting seven Faunus on the floor below us, and eight men on the ground ready to take on the SWAT team."

Aaron moved to the edge of the roof and waved at the police on the ground, then he moved toward the only door on the roof. "You ever clear a building before?" he asked.

"Never. I've only seen it done on TV."

The older Rider used a spell to unlock the door. "My only advice, make sure you know who you are attacking beforehand." Aaron opened the door and ran inside. Ruby followed as fast as she could, Crescent Rose wasn't exactly designed for tight spaces.

Aaron kept his shield in front while going down the stairs. The sound of gunshots started coming from the floor below. The two Riders picked up their pace until they came to another door. Throwing their stealth out the window, Aaron charged his shield into it and splintered the door.

The smell hit Ruby like a truck as she entered the large room. It could only be described as a sewer. She resisted the urge to cover her nose as she scanned the room. It was dark, the only light coming from gaps in the boards covering the windows. Even so, Ruby could tell the only other one standing in the room was Aaron. She lowered her weapon and closed her eyes tightly to adjust them to the dark.

Ruby opened her eyes and looked around. She stood in the center of what might as well have been a medieval prison. Eight Faunus sat chained to the floors and walls. They all had similar injuries to Violet; cuts on their arms, legs and faces and either an ear, antler, or part of a tail cut off. Judging by the smell, they all had to relieve themselves while chained up.

Dread overtook Ruby. If there were eight Faunus chained up, why could she only count seven minds? She looked around one more time and nearly lost her lunch. A cat Faunus girl lay slumped against the wall, with a large cut in her throat. She couldn't have been older than ten.

A hand grabbed Ruby's shoulder and spun her around. She found herself looking at Aaron's concerned face. "Ruby, there's nothing you can do for her now, but we can help everyone else." Ruby nodded absentmindedly, then turned back to look at the body. She was too late to save that girl, she wouldn't be late for anyone else.

Just then, the SWAT team burst into the room. The flashlights on their rifles swept the room searching for more targets. They paused on the two Riders for only a moment before moving on. "Clear!" one of them eventually shouted. The officers lowered their weapons and took in the scene for what it was.

"What kind of monster would do this?" one officer asked.

"The kind that are laying on the ground dead downstairs," the first officer said. "Cut these Faunus loose and get them to the ambulances outside." The officers split up, one heading to each prisoner. By now, all those chained up were aware that the newcomers were there to get the out. One girl sobbed uncontrollably.

"Got some thick chains here," an officer called out. "Need some bolt cutters."

Ruby walked over to one of the prisoners. She pointed a hand at the chains binding the boy's hands and said, "Jierda." The chains broke and fell away. Ruby did the same for the leg bindings. The officer looked at Ruby, then picked the kid up off the floor. Across the room Aaron did the same for another prisoner. The two Riders continued the process for all other Faunus. Thankfully, Aaron freed the one who died so Ruby didn't have to go near her.

All but one of the officers grabbed a now free prisoner. The remaining one started talking to Aaron about something Ruby couldn't hear. After a few seconds Aaron nodded and the officer moved to follow his team. The older Rider slowly approached the younger. "We're free to go," he said. "Cerise and Nalia are waiting for us where they dropped us off."

Ruby blinked a few times. "We can't leave yet, those Faunus need our help!"

Aaron scoffed. "The police have requested that we leave the healing to the medical teams outside. Apparently your work on Violet 'tampered with the evidence.' When did someone's word stop meaning anything here?"

Ruby sighed. "It stopped when chivalry started to die." She glanced over at a pool of dried blood. "Let's get out of here," she said as she started walking toward the door Aaron busted down.

"Ruby," Aaron said forcefully, "are you going to be okay?"

Without so much as a backwards glance, Ruby said almost under her breath, "Ask me again in a week." She continued to the roof without slowing down. The two dragons flew just over the roof with news vehicles above them by a few dozen feet. Ruby jumped up onto Cerise' saddle and strapped in. A few seconds later Aaron did the same.

Cerise looked back at her Rider, concern flowing off her like a river. _**Are** you going to be okay? _ she asked.

Ruby sighed and closed her eyes. _I really don't know._ Cerise reluctantly faced forward again and started her flight back to Beacon

* * *

Aaron looked over his shoulder at Ruby. On the outside, she was holding up fine. How she was holding up on the inside though was anyone's guess. She was so happy go lucky before going into that warehouse. That could very well change after everything she saw during the day. _Hopefully she handles this better than I did,_ Aaron thought to Nalia.

The green dragon hummed sadly. _Honestly, that's not hard._ Aaron could tell she wanted to say something else, but she held back.

By that point, the four had flown into Beacon airspace. Nalia angled for the Dragonhouse with Cerise right on her tail. There was a small crowd outside the building, giving just enough space for the dragons to land. As they did, people started clapping and cheering. As Aaron dismounted, he noticed most of the people in the crowd were Faunus. The news must have run their story already.

Ruby wasn't taking the attention well. She hung her head and stood on the side of Cerise where the least amount of people would see her. Cerise nudged her Rider with her snout. That got a small smile out of Ruby and she put a hand on her dragon's snout. Still, she put her hood up before walking to the Dragonhouse. Aaron didn't know if she was acting like that because she didn't like attention, or she just wanted to be alone.

The main door to the Dragonhouse opened and the dragons and Riders walked in. The rest of team RWBY was already there. Yang looked up at her sister and her smile lit up the room. "There's my hero sister!" she yelled. The blonde jumped up and charged her sister. Yang brought Ruby into one of her crushing hugs. "I'm so proud of you. You got your first bad guy and you helped rescue so many people."

For the first time that Aaron knew of, Ruby pushed back on her sister. "Yang, please, not now."

Yang released her sister, her smile gone. "Ruby, what's wrong? I thought you'd be ecstatic."

Ruby looked down at the floor. "There was one I couldn't help."

Yang blinked several times, then scratched the back of her neck. "Oh, they haven't said that part on the news yet."

"They're getting into that now," Weiss called from her place by where the two eggs hid. She and Blake were watching the news on one of their Scrolls. Both wore unreadable expressions. "They didn't want to confirm it until the girl's parents were contacted."

Ruby sighed. "I was too late. I was too late to save that girl." She bunched her fists and closed her eyes tightly. When she opened them, they shown with a new determination. "Never again."

Of all the things Aaron expected, that was one of the farthest down on the list. He honestly expected Ruby to just break down. Aaron was proud of the young Rider. She was growing fast. Whether he would ever admit it to anyone but Nalia, Ruby actually surpassed him in this matter.

Blake stood up from her spot and walked over to Ruby. She surprised everyone in the room by hugging her teammate. "Thank you for putting yourself out there," she said.

Ruby hesitantly returned the hug."You didn't know anybody in there, did you?"

The Faunus of the team shook her head and pulled away. "No. It's just that that I can't stand people treating Faunus that way. It's despicable." Weiss, still sitting by the eggs, turned away slightly. Aaron knew about her father's company and its reputation. He also knew that Weiss hated the labor policies of the company.

"Well, I'll do what I can," Ruby said rather cheerfully. "I just hope I never have to raid a slave house again."

"I think that makes all of us, Ruby," Aaron said. He turned to look at Yang. "So, anything new with the eggs?"

Yang sighed. "Not so much as a peep." She looked longingly at the spot where the eggs were hidden. "How much more time do we have?"

"Another week and it will be passed the normal time frame." Aaron looked at the unbonded girls in turn. Blake and Weiss looked disappointed, while Yang was downright dejected. "It is possible for an egg to hatch past the two weeks, but it is extremely unlikely as time goes on."

After a few seconds Yang switched back to her normal personality. "Well, where were we in Galaxy Trek?"

"New Generation, season two, episode three," Weiss said confidently.

"No stardate this time?" Ruby teased, but she lacked her usual enthusiasm.

"I don't know them all!" Weiss said exasperated. "Not yet."

As Weiss connected her Scroll the projector Yang set up a few days ago, Aaron took another look at Ruby. He thought over how quickly she turned around from bordering depression to determination. The question was, did she really feel that way, or was it a mask?

* * *

 **If the second half of this seems like it's rushed… sorry, I wanted to get this out today and I was running behind. Still, I think I got my point across. I'm going to be on a bus for most of the next four days, so I might be able to upload another episode by Tuesday. Next chapter will be the food fight and at least the beginning of Aaron's initiation.**


	12. Initiation

**Well, I tried to get this out sooner, but I apparently struggle writing on my craptop while on bus. The fact I couldn't reference the actual episode didn't help either. Still, better late than never. At this point though, I'm pretty sure my Tuesday morning upload time is dead, at least for a while until I get used to my new classes.**

 **I'm currently thinking on how the maiden's magic compares to Alagaësian magic. There will be some overlap, but they will not be exactly the same. The specifics could be subject to change, so I won't bore you with exact details. This could very well impact chapters before Volume III, depending on if Ruby is the summer maiden. I am kind of banking on that, and wow, she would be really overpowered if she is.**

 **Due to the fact that some of the dialogue is directly taken from the show, I feel obligated to say that I do not own RWBY or Inheritance cycle.**

* * *

Aaron walked into the Beacon's cafeteria the day of his initiation into the school. He had no idea what the initiation entailed, but he was confident he would be able to pass. A Rider's training on Vroengard covered essentially everything, from reading and writing to advanced medical training, the latter of which Aaron was being specialized in when he and Nalia left all those years ago, not that they made it very far.

"There's the leader of team ANCR," Aaron heard from behind him. He turned around and saw Weiss, Blake, and Yang walking in behind him.

The Rider rolled his eyes at the mention of the team name the media gave the four who saved the eight Faunus the week before. "Yang, you know how I feel about that name, and I'm not a leader."

Yang just shrugged and smiled. "Whatever you say, but try convincing the rest of Vale that."

"Where is your sister anyway?"

"Ruby forgot something in our room" Weiss sighed. "She'll be around in a few minutes."

"Well in that case," Aaron said as the group picked a table, "there's something serious I'd like to talk to you about, without Ruby knowing."

The three girls stared at Aaron with strange looks. "Is this a Dragon Rider thing?" Blake asked.

Aaron sighed. "Kind of, but this is more out of personal concern." The others' faces grew even more confused. "The two nights Ruby spent in your room, was she having nightmares?"

Realization dawned on their faces. "I take it they've been happening in the Dragonhouse too?" Yang asked.

"From what Nalia says, once per night. She said Ruby wakes up in a cold sweat and has a mental breakdown. Cerise does what she can, but it only lasts the night at most."

Weiss nodded. "It's the same on all accounts in our room, except it was two a night." She shook her head. "Seeing Ruby overly happy is annoying, but seeing her depressed is scary."

Yang nodded. "She's always happy around Cerise.""

"She ever tell any of you what she saw?" Aaron asked

Weiss and Blake shook their heads while Yang bit her lip. Aaron turned to the blonde of the group. "She asked you not to tell anyone, didn't she?"

Yang shook her head. "She told me in confidence I'm not going say anything."

"I get that," Aaron threw up his hands in defense. "But I've seen this before _._ It could be worse than you think." Of course, what he'd seen is what Nalia saw in him.

Yang dipped her head. She looked to Weiss and Blake, then to Aaron. She sat quiet for several seconds, then sighed. "She said it's always the same," she whispered. "Always all nine, always all dead…always one of them asking 'Why?'"

Aaron nodded and placed a hand over his mouth. He knew the feeling all too well. "She's blaming herself for the one. The others, I'd have to guess that she's worried about what would have happened if she didn't show up."

"Why wouldn't she tell us this?" Weiss looked at Yang, then Aaron.

Blake was the one who answered. "She doesn't want to burden us with her problems, and she's worried our view of her will change."

"And no offense guys, really," Yang started, "but I'm sure she's more comfortable with the sister she's known her entire life over her teammates she's known for a few months and a tutor for a few weeks."

"Everyone is susceptible to this type of regret, Riders included." Aaron paused. "I'd say especially people like Ruby. They're so worried about others, they neglect themselves. I've noticed that in Ruby's fighting style too."

Yang sighed. "That's my Ruby. I'm just worried that it will come back to bite her."

"She has us," Weiss said. "We won't let that happen."

Aaron nodded, then saw Ruby come through the door holding an oversized book. "This conversation never happened." He put on the best smile he could given the previous conversation. "So one time in training, a few friends and I decided to play a prank on one of our other friends." The girls looked confused at the change of subject. Yang looked past Aaron and apparently saw Ruby. She immediately leaned in close, a small smirk on her face. Aaron continued his unfortunately true story and elicited laughs from all the girls. "And that is why you never tickle a sleeping dragon."

Ruby finally made it to the table and nearly dropped the huge book on the table, causing everything already on the table to jump. She cleared her throat and started speaking. "Friends, sisters, dragons, Weiss."

"Hey!" Weiss said indignantly.

Ruby continued on like her partner never said anything. "Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream."

Yang turned to look at her other teammates. "This ought to be good."

"A dream that the seven of us would come together as a team, and friends, and have the most fun anyone has ever had, ever!"

"This is after my initiation, right?" Aaron asked. Ruby quickly nodded.

"Did you steal my binder?" Weiss asked.

Ruby leaned forward slightly and threw up two fingers on each hand. "I am not a crook."

 _She's borrowing it,_ Cerise said. Aaron looked outside and saw both dragons settling down in the courtyard outside. _She'll give it back after today._

"There's marker all over the cover! Something tells me the order of everything inside is all messed up to, if it's still there! It's completely unusable!"

"Something is only unusable once the user gives up hope," Aaron chipped in, then shrugged, "or if it's incinerated."

Weiss stared mouth agape at Aaron, while Yang laughed. "Are you sure you're fifteen? You've always sounded much older."

"Well, when you have the life I've had, you learn to grow up quick." Aaron placed both hands on the back of his head and broke out a large smile. "I do officially become a man in two weeks though."

Team RWBY stared at Aaron with strange looks. "What do you mean by that?" Weiss asked.

"I turn sixteen in two weeks, why?"

Ruby failed to hold back a short laugh. "You do know you need to be eighteen to be considered an adult here, right?"

Aaron's smile fell apart. His hopes shattering could almost be heard outside his head. "You're kidding me, right?"

The younger Rider didn't even try to hold back her laughter. "Nope. You've got to wait two more years. Look on the bright side, you still get there before me."

Aaron sighed. "Any other things I have to wait more years for?"

"The legal drinking age is twenty-one," Yang said almost deadpan.

"Come on!" Aaron slammed a fist down on the table. "Well this day has gotten off to a great start."

"Think about it like this," Ruby chirped, "you can still start off the semester with a bang with us."

"I always kick my semesters off with a Yang!" Yang quipped. "Ehh. Guys, am I right?" An apple flew beside Aaron's head and hit Yang in the face. Aaron turned around and saw team JNPR sitting at the table behind them. He didn't even see them come in.

"Look guys," Ruby started again, "it's been an amazing two weeks, heck four weeks, but we haven't really had that much time to do anything together. Which is why I've taken the liberty of figuring out things that we can do after Aaron's initiation."

"I don't know whether to be proud or scared of what you have in store," Weiss said. At the same time, Yang grabbed an apple of her own and threw it in team JNPR's general direction

"I don't know," Blake said slowly. "I think I might sit this one out."

Aaron raised an eyebrow. Blake wasn't really the social type, but she still went along with whatever her team did. Something was up. "Just be at the Dragonhouse at the normal time."

"Sit out or not," Weiss began, "I think however we spend this last day, we do it as a team." She stood up. "I for one think that-"

A pie flew out of nowhere and hit the heiress in the face. Aaron covered his mouth to hide his laughter. He turned around to see Pyrrha in a similar pose and Nora pointing a finger at Ren. Aaron didn't know what exactly happened next, but food started flying everywhere. The table he sat at was flipped onto its side by Yang.

"Okay, so, I'm going to go," Aaron started to walk toward the door.

"Come on, join us!" Ruby called. Aaron turned back to Ruby and saw a fire in her eyes. He glanced over the rest of the cafeteria and saw team JNPR building a fort out of the tables while under 'fire' from a few retreating students.

"From what I understand, it's teams of four here," Aaron said. "I would swing the balance too much in your favor." Some motion in his peripheral vision caught his attention. He turned to look at it and barely caught the watermelon flying at his chest. Aaron shrugged and continued to the door with his lunch.

"Hey, aren't you with them?" a monkey Faunus asked Aaron as he walked out the door. Aaron realized it was the same guy that he occasionally saw with Blake, and the first Faunus he ever encountered four weeks ago. He never caught his name though.

"I'll leave this to the rest of them. I have an initiation to prepare for." Aaron walked to Nalia's side, who was looking through the cafeteria windows at the chaos going on inside.

 _The people here are strange,_ Nalia commented. _I can't imagine any humans in Alagaësia fighting like this, unless they were drunk._

 _I'm guessing this is somewhat normal,_ Aaron said as he pulled a hunting knife out of a saddlebag. He began carving up the watermelon. _Then again, I don't have any idea of what normal is here._

 _We'll figure it out._ Aaron finished cutting his section off the watermelon, then tossed Nalia her much larger portion.

Aaron climbed up into the saddle with watermelon in hand. _Let's get some flight time in before my initiation. Clear my mind._ Nalia nodded, then gently took flight. Cerise stayed rooted on the ground watching the food fight.

Gentle flight always helped clear Aaron's mind. He ate his lunch and looked around the city of Vale. He still couldn't grasp that humans built all of it. Dwarves couldn't even build structures that tall or clean unless carved out of a mountain. Aaron would have been fine looking over the city for hours. A light breeze blew past. The temperature was perfect for the height.

Out of nowhere, Yang flew up in front of Nalia's head, startling both dragon and Rider. Yang smiled and waved. "Come here often?" she yelled, then she plummeted to the ground below. Aaron looked down and saw a hole in the roof of the cafeteria.

 _Should we help her?_ Nalia asked, confusion mixed with concern.

 _I think if she was worried, she would have asked for help._ Aaron shook his head to clear his mind. _When did we need to be at that cliff face?_

 _One o'clock,_ _which I believe,_ Nalia looked at the sun, _is soon._

 _Well, let's get there. Early is better than late._ Nalia turned and flew toward the cliff where Aaron's initiation would begin. Team RWBY was very tight lipped about what exactly would go on. The only thing they said was that he'd have to fight some Grimm, and that melee combat was more effective against them than ranged attacks.

During the flight, one of Beacon's Bullheads flew by. Nalia watched it go then mentally growled. _I will be faster than those things one day._ The green dragon prided herself on being one of the fastest young dragons on Vroengard. She could even out speed dragons several years older than her. After their exile, she joked that she was the fastest dragon alive to lift her spirits. Still, she believed it, and she wanted to remain the queen of the skies. She didn't take humans making machines faster than her very well.

Nalia landed by the Bullhead and Aaron jumped out of the saddle. Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch were already standing by several metal platforms built into the ground. Surprisingly though, no one else stood on top of the cliff. Aaron walked up to Beacon's headmaster. "Where is everyone else?"

"You are the only truly new student to Beacon this semester," Ozpin said. "All others are transfers from other schools and have already passed their own initiations."

Aaron nodded, though a little confused. He was the only one to get into Beacon? Why was he getting all that special treatment? Aaron had done nothing to earn anything Ozpin gave him. What was Ozpin planning? What did he know?

"Please stand on the platform," Goodwitch said. Aaron complied, but he was a little confused. It must have been a ceremonial thing.

Ozpin cleared his throat. "I'm sure you have trained for years before arriving here, but Remnant is a different place. Now your abilities will be tested and compared to our standards. This initiation is for only you, Aaron. Your dragon must not follow you in.

"As I'm sure you know by now, students are assigned to teams of four. However, since you are the only new student, your choices in the forest below will determine if you are placed with another first year team or if you will continue alone.

"After you've landed, proceed north into the forest. You will meet opposition on your way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die." Aaron cocked his head. What kind of test was this? Not even a Rider's training could be that lethal.

Nalia shared his sentiment. _If you do come close to the point of death, I will take care of whatever is killing you._ She puffed a small amount of smoke out of her nostrils. _Then I might just have to kill you myself._

 _I love you too,_ Aaron thought back.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Choose one and return to the cliff. We will regard that item as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Do you have any questions?"

Aaron cracked his knuckles, then adjusted the hat on his head. "When do I start?"

Ozpin blinked. "Now."

A strange whirring sound started underneath Aaron and the platform vibrated slightly. He looked down to see what was going on. Before he knew what was happening, he was flung into the air, spinning head over heels. A few choice words shot through his mind as he tried to level out. As he did, he saw the ground rushing up to meet him. "Letta," he yelled, and he froze in place about ten feet above the forest canopy. He ended the flow of magic and dropped into the trees.

 _Nice recovery,_ Nalia called, chuckling with her mind.

 _Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,_ Aaron shot back. He drew Redemption and removed his shield from his back. The Rider slowly proceeded through the forest. He hadn't spent much time in the trees since his first two weeks on Remnant. Aaron Called back memories of flying over the forest with Nalia to try and narrow down the places the abandoned temple could be. There were several abandoned structures in the forest, and any one of them could be it.

Several minutes passed with no signs of a man-made structure or Grimm. Aaron expanded his mind out into the forest. He didn't feel the rush the elves felt when in contact with nature, but it was still an amazing feeling. Several Grimm minds were in range, but instead of recoiling from their evil thoughts, Aaron noted their approximate locations and avoided large clusters of them.

One Beowolf, though, caught his scent. It notified its pack and about twelve Grimm started running at Aaron. The Rider turned to face the incoming threat. He cleared his mind and got into a defensive stance. The monsters burst into the clearing and surrounded Aaron. They slowly circled their prey waiting for an opening. Even though his opponents snarled and drooled at the Rider, he kept calm and never lost focus.

After a few seconds of circling, one of the smaller ones attacked Aaron from behind. Aaron spun around and cut off the creature's head almost like it was an afterthought. The attacks didn't stop there. The Beowolves charged one after the other, never giving Aaron a free moment. Their plan backfired though. None of them attacked at the same time. Even though the Grimm attacked from different sides each time, Aaron sliced off heads and other limbs left and right. He was too fast for the Grimm. In less than fifteen seconds, all of the Beowolves lay decaying at Aaron's feet.

"Too easy," Aaron said out loud.

 _Careful what you wish for,_ Nalia warned.

 _You worry too much._ Aaron continued moving north and avoiding Grimm. A few normal animals roamed the forest, but none approached Aaron. The Rider probed the minds of a few of the creatures to see if they might have some idea of where the temple was. Not surprisingly, none of them knew anything.

About a mile ahead of where he was, Aaron felt the mind of an injured deer. He slowly made his way over to it. If Ozpin wanted a test of his abilities, he'd get a show of skill _and_ character. Most people would just ignore the poor animal, or put it out of its misery. Aaron had other plans.

Aaron found the deer lying on its side in a clearing. Its front right hoof was bent at an unnatural angle. The Rider knelt down next to the animal, who tried to move away from the human on using its good legs. Seeing the deer's fear, Aaron soothed the poor creature using his mind.

He turned to look at the injured hoof. It didn't look to bad, just a broken bone and possibly some torn ligaments. First Aaron gently moved the hoof back into its natural position, nearly getting kicked by the deer's other legs. When the deer calmed down, Aaron fixed the broken bone. He cast another spell to figure out what else was torn internally, and healed the ligaments near the ankle.

Hesitantly, the deer stood up and tested its weight on its previously injured foot. Feeling that it was fully healed, the deer looked at Aaron with its big black eyes. Aaron stuck out a hand and stroked the side of the deer's face. It took the light petting for a second, then ran back off into the forest.

 _Nalia, don't eat that one,_ Aaron told his dragon.

 _Was that really necessary?_ Nalia asked.

 _Not really, but it took my mind off of killing things for a few minutes._ As Aaron stood up, he felt something…different inside him. It wasn't emotion, he didn't feel like he was about to be attacked, and it wasn't a normal bodily function. He tried to ignore it, but after a few more minutes of walking, the feeling refused to be ignored.

Aaron found a relatively defensible location in the trees and sat down to even better focus his thoughts. He cast several spells to figure out what it was, but none of them said anything was wrong.

Confused, Aaron cast his mind at the problem. He gasped as he realized what it was. A natural power he didn't even know he had. _Is this my Aura?_ he thought. _Why didn't I find this sooner?_ He grabbed onto it with his mind and 'pulled.' The massive energy surge caught the Rider by surprise. His entire body tingled and he noticed a slight green glow around his body. He suddenly felt stronger, faster, and a good chunk of his earlier fatigue disappeared. Aaron couldn't help but laugh.

 _Aaron! What's going on?_ Nalia called, her mental voice dripping with concern.

 _Nothing's wrong,_ Aaron responded. _I believe I've just unlocked my Aura. Sorry, but it was a much more pleasant experience doing that over my first time touching you._

Nalia launched a mental attack at her Rider, only succeeding in causing pain because she was already in Aaron's head. _Well then, if you don't appreciate me, maybe I'll just take on another Rider. I think Pyrrha Nikos would be a suitable replacement._

Aaron couldn't help laughing. _You win. Bonding to you was way more meaningful than unlocking my Aura ever will be._ Smiling, Aaron stood up and proceeded north once again. Oddly enough, Aaron felt something...different in the forest around him. Every animal had something else to it. A couple of Beowolves crossed his path, which the Rider quickly dispatched with ease. They, however, didn't have the extra feeling. Aaron thought it over for several minutes before having an epiphany. He never felt it before having his Aura unlocked. None of the Grimm had it while all the animals did. The Rider didn't know how, or if the knowledge would be useful in the future, but it was still handy to know.

Eventually he came upon a clearing with a large structure in the center. Inside, Aaron saw several black and yellow objects sitting on pedestals in a semi-circle. He walked inside the circle and looked at all the objects. On closer inspection, he saw they were chess pieces. Weiss brought in the game one day while waiting to see if an egg would hatch.

Aaron figured they were the relics that Ozpin was talking about. He looked them over again to see if there was anything different about any of them. Not seeing anything, he grabbed the nearest one, a knight. Aaron thought it fit. Change the horse for a dragon and add some magic and it would be a Rider. He stuffed the piece in one of the pockets in his jacket and turned back to the cliff.

As he turned though, something caught his eye. Aaron focused on one of the chess pieces set apart from the others. The black king. The air around the piece gave off an evil energy. Aaron froze in place. _How could the Traitor follow me here?_ Still, it was just a chess piece. The Rider strode up to it, then sliced it in half with Redemption. _You won't get the best of me, Traitor._ He left the ruin, his earlier good mood shattered.

A roar came from behind Aaron. He froze once more. The last time he heard a roar like that was back when he and Nalia first arrived. He turned around and saw a giant Nevermore flying right toward him. Aaron switched his sword and shield for his V4. He aimed up at the bird creature's wings and fired a burst of Burn Dust rounds. The bullets hit and exploded on contact, but the bird creature never slowed down.

Aaron swore under his breath as he remembered what Ruby said about her team's fight against a Nevermore. Yang fired several shots into its mouth and it did nothing. Still, Aaron fired more bursts at the creature to get its attention and hopefully draw it in close.

The Nevermore had other plans. It stopped in the air and shot its iron-like feathers down at the Rider from its original height. Aaron raised a hand to the incoming projectiles and yelled "Letta!" All the feathers stopped in their tracks. The Rider focused his attention back on the Grimm. "Gánga." The feathers flew back toward their former owner. The Nevermore screeched and barely dove out of the way. Back on the ground, Aaron felt the full force of the energy drain. That trick would not work twice.

This time, the Nevermore dove at Aaron. The Rider moved to switch from his ranged weapon to his melee set, but his shield and V4 interfered with each other's positioning. Because of this, Aaron didn't have his shield ready when the Grimm attacked. Aaron hastily swung Redemption, and barely managed to nick a claws on one of the creature's feet. For the first time, and most likely not the last, Aaron wished there was a better way of carrying the two weapons.

As the Grimm flew around for another pass, Aaron got an idea. Of all the Grimm minds he touched, none of them noticed his presence, and none of them had their minds shielded. The Nevermore should be no different. Even if he couldn't control minds like other Riders, he could still figure out what his opponent was about to do and lightly influence their decisions. He stretched his mind out to the bird Grimm, and immediately sought out the creature's plans. Aaron smirked. He had the over-sized bird beat.

 _Sorry Ruby, I'm stealing your idea,_ he thought to himself as the Nevermore flew at Aaron at incredible speed. He had to time the jump right, or else the Grimm could adjust to attack him, or Aaron would be nothing more than a red stain on a black wing. Aaron waited until just the right moment, then leaped, barely making it over the creature's head. He landed facing the wrong direction on the back end of the Nevermore's body. He slowly turned around as the Grimm gained altitude. When it reached a decent height, it dove, rolled, flipped, anything to get the clinging human off its back. Still, Aaron held on. He drew Redemption to cut off the Grimm's head.

Aaron started to influence the Nevermore's mind. He planted the idea that there were undefended humans back on the cliff he was launched from over an hour ago. The creature turned in that direction, its hunger redirected. Aaron also concealed himself from the Grimm's memory, with a little difficulty. The unwilling living transportation flew straight and true to Aaron's target.

Within minutes, Nalia came into view on top of the cliff. She was standing upright, her whole body rigid, ready to spring into action if her Rider was in danger. There was no need though. The Nevermore's confusion at the lack of people didn't last long, as Aaron cast a spell to put the creature to sleep. The bird fell from the sky like a rock. Aaron jumped off just before the Grimm collided face first with the cliff. The creature's head broke the ground and came up beside Aaron. The Rider swung his sword down and removed the Grimm's head. The rest of the body fell down the cliff.

 _Show off,_ Nalia huffed, with a hint of pride in her voice.

Aaron shrugged his shoulders. _I try._ He turned to face the two Beacon professors. Goodwitch looked genuinely shocked while Ozpin merely smiled.

"Well done, Aaron," Beacon's headmaster said. "May I have your relic?"

Aaron walked over to Ozpin and handed the knight over. "I went through a lot of trouble to get that, it better be worth it," Aaron joked.

Ozpin nodded. "It will be, I assure you. Please report to the amphitheater in one hour to receive your team assignment." With that, he turned away and walked to his transport with Goodwitch in tow.

Nalia walked up beside Aaron. _Well done out there,_ she hummed. _You really made an impression on the purple one._

Aaron smiled. "Well, apparently it's not every day one person kills a Nevermore. They are tough."

 _You have some new skills to hone as well. This new energy within you is impressive. I wonder how you would fair against elven sword masters now._

"Don't get too confident. Still, I don't think I'll lose in under a minute anymore." Aaron climbed into Nalia's saddle and strapped his legs in. "Well, let's get back to Beacon. I should probably freshen up a bit before I'm assigned to a team."

* * *

 **It may seem a little quick to have Aaron's Aura unlocked, but we really don't know that is involved for people to unlock it by themselves. I'm just guessing it's based off some experience, or by necessity in combat. Next chapter, I promise, an egg will hatch.**

 **As always, hope you liked this chapter.**

 **Not story related, but sorry, I have to say it. GO BI5ON!**


	13. All That Glitters

**Sorry that this one is so late and if the quality of this one isn't that great. I had a major family emergency, and it's hard to write happy after that. Man I could use a dragon sized hug right now…**

 **During this time though, I have gone back through the previous chapters and made some adjustments. They were as small as a slight grammatical correction to tying up loose ends I forgot about in the early chapters. I even overhauled the Nevermore fight scene from the last chapter. Looking it over again…yeah. I passed badass and went straight to overpowered. This new version might still be OP, but at least it makes more sense.**

 **I'm kind of torn if I'm going to make Ruby a maiden or not, regardless of whether she is one in the show, and it only has a little to do with her being extremely overpowered. I have ideas on how both ways could affect the story, and I don't know which one I like more.  
**

 **Now, on with the story.**

* * *

Aaron looked around the amphitheater. He was surprised that it was mostly full. Only the first year teams were required to be present, but Aaron saw many older students as well. _Why are they all here for me?_ he asked himself.

Nalia answered anyway. _Because you are strong and different. You took down a Nevermore all by yourself. Not many students can claim the same. When you healed that deer though, people knew you had a different mindset from the rest of them. Most people here would have looked over it._ _Word must have spread from the other first year teams._ Aaron felt a wave of superiority wash off his dragon. _Also, you have me. The first dragon on Remnant. They want to know where I'll end up._

 _You know, you're not wrong._ Aaron's eyes settled on the first year team leaders. They all stood with their hands behind their backs facing the stage. From what Aaron could see of Ruby's face, she was trying and mostly failing to hold back a smile. The older Rider took it as a good sign.

Finally, professor Ozpin stepped to the center of the stage and faced Aaron. "Aaron Benson, please step forward." The Rider complied, stepping up onto the stage and stopping a few feet in front of the headmaster. He clasped his own arms behind his back.

"You have placed us in an awkward situation here," Ozpin continued. "You are the only new student for this semester, and you have never attended a combat school on Remnant. Yet here you are, passing your initiation with flying colors, and accomplishing what no other first year has been able to do on their own.

"As for team placement, you chose the white knight, the same as team RWBY." Aaron blinked and fought to hold back a smile of his own. Ozpin turned to the team leaders. "Ruby Rose, please step forward." Ruby stepped out of the line of team leaders and onto the stage. She stopped beside Aaron and gave him a sideways smile. "Ruby Rose, will you accept Aaron as a member of team RWBY?"

Ruby looked slightly offstage. Aaron followed her gaze and saw the rest of the team. Yang was giving two thumbs up while Blake and Weiss just smiled and nodded. The young leader smiled herself and turned back to Ozpin. "On behalf of my team, I accept." That elicited clapping and cheering from the crowd, most of it coming from teams RWBY and JNPR, Yang and Nora in particular.

Ozpin smiled and nodded. "Congratulations, Aaron and team RWBY. I hope this arrangement will be fruitful for all of you." Ozpin turned and left the stage through back door. Aaron and Ruby returned to the amphitheater floor and were mobbed by the rest of their team.

"Welcome to the team, Aaron!" Yang said as she slapped his back. It nearly knocked the wind out of Aaron.

"The extra set of hands will be appreciated," Blake chipped in.

"Just try not to bring us down too much," Weiss joked.

Aaron scoffed. "Bring you down? Nalia and I will help bring team RWBY to new heights." There was silence for a few seconds. _Well that fell flat,_ he commented to Nalia.

"You might want to leave the jokes to me," Yang said. "That was sad." The newly expanded team started walking out of the amphitheater with people on all sides saying variations of congratulations.

Near the door, team JNPR caught up with team RWBY. "Hey guys, congratulations!" Jaune said. "So, you're a team of five now. I think that may be a first."

Nora quickly stuck out a finger and slowly moved it past each member of the other team. "Don't think this automatically makes you better than us," she scolded.

Ruby chuckled. "If you're counting dragons, we're actually a team of seven now."

"Apparently, in order to join our team," Yang started, "you need to at least have a kill assist on a Nevermore." She turned to Ruby with a smirk on her face. "Sorry, but Cerise isn't a full member." Ruby elbowed her sister in the gut.

Pyrrha turned to Aaron. "You took down a Nevermore singlehandedly. Not many students can do that, and none of them are first years. That is an impressive feat."

Aaron rubbed the back of his neck, slightly embarrassed. "Well, dragons aren't the only large flying creature where I'm from, and they aren't as nice or intelligent as dragons. We're trained to take them out." He purposefully left out being able to read the creature's mind. The longer he could hold that advantage, the better. Even though he trusted JNPR, there were other ears around that could be hostile.

The older Rider turned to Ruby. "So what now, boss?

Ruby held up a finger. "First, it's still just Ruby. No titles needed. Second, we need to celebrate that you've been added to the team!"

"What did you have in mind?" Yang asked.

"Since it's already almost time for-" Ruby stopped in mid-sentence, as if to recollect her thoughts. "-for our normal afternoon activities, why don't we order in some pizza and watch one of those Spruce Willis movies we haven't gotten to on Scrollflix."

Weiss crossed her arms. "So, a regular day but with pizza?"

"There's not much else we can do while waiting," Blake chipped in.

The heiress sighed. "I suppose."

"Great!" Ruby whipped out her scroll. "I'll place the order. My treat." She looked over to Jaune and his team. "You guys want in?" Aaron looked at the younger Rider with surprise. He would have asked them along anyway, but Ruby should have asked if there would a problem with outsiders seeing the eggs.

"It's the last day before classes start again," JNPR's leader said. "Why not?"

Yang cocked her head. "I might be missing something here, but when did you get the money to pay for a meal for all of us? Dad's already on us for not talking to him about getting all that food for Cerise her first week."

Ruby tried to hide her head between her shoulders. "I've recently come into twenty-five-thousand Lien."

The whole group stopped in their tracks and turned to look at Ruby with varying degrees of shock on their faces. "Ruby, it's not okay to rob banks!" Nora said. Ren brought a hand up to his face.

"I'm not forgetting about a loan, am I?" Weiss asked.

Ruby laughed. "No, it's half reward money for finding the all the Faunus last week. Aaron should have gotten the other half."

Aaron's mouth dropped slightly. "I haven't heard anything about this."

"I'm sure it's either gone into your bank account or student account."

Aaron opened the account app on his scroll. Sure enough, slightly under twenty-five-thousand Lien was his to use. "Well, that covers my weapons, and then some." He rubbed the back of his neck in apprehension. "I'm not sure I can accept this."

"Why not?" Yang asked. "You're now a Huntsman in training, and that's how the professionals are paid." Aaron looked at Yang like she had two heads. "What? Don't tell me Dragon Riders don't get paid for their actions."

"Typically we don't." Everyone in the group stood surprised again. "We grow most of our own food on our island, we don't have use for a lot of possessions, and we build everything ourselves. Occasionally people will offer us food and coin for the things we do, but at the end of the day, we just give it all back to those who need it."

"So, you're like a super-non-profit?" Jaune asked.

"Essentially, yes."

For once, Weiss looked at Aaron with approval. "That's a very well run organization you're a part of," she said. "Not needing any outside support is impressive."

Aaron shrugged. "It worked back home, but I have a bad feeling it won't work out here."

"Putting your own lives on the line while expecting nothing in return," Ren commented. "If only more people here shared that belief." The rest of the group nodded their agreement.

"Well, let's not keep the dragons waiting, let's move!" Ruby started walking toward the Dragonhouse again. While Aaron turned to walk he caught a brief look in Yang's eyes. They were filled with sadness and longing. It was the last day in the two week stretch where eggs normally hatch. It seemed Ruby's mental state wasn't the only one he needed to watch if none of the eggs hatched that day.

Yang shook her head and her dejected look disappeared. "So Aaron, I take it you'll be moving in with us?"

Aaron looked at the blonde with a confused look. "What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"All teams share a room here. I admit, it will be a little crowded with a fifth person, but we could make it work." Weiss shot her teammate a look.

The Rider looked at the ground and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm going to have to talk to Ozpin about that."

"Why? You don't like us?

"Back home, a guy sleeping in a room with four girls who he isn't related to isn't…how is it said here…socially acceptable, especially in that tight of a space."

Something clicked in Yang's head and she faced straight forward again, turning slightly red in the cheeks. "Well, that got awkward."

Ruby turned her head back. "We've slept in the Dragonhouse at the same time. What's the difference?"

"We were on opposite sides under our own dragons' wing, not literally on top of each other. There is a huge difference." Ruby just shrugged and looked forward again.

 _I thought you wanted to be a part of the team,_ Nalia said to Aaron, a hint of amusement in her mental voice. _Why are you so hesitant to join? This place obviously doesn't have the same views on this as Alagaësia._

 _It's hard to ignore that part of me,_ Aaron thought back. _Another thing, what would people think of me if we go back?_

Nalia laughed. _Worrying about your image doesn't suit you. However, I will relent. More of you for me that way._

 _Don't get too excited. I still have my room in the dorm. I'll see you soon._ Aaron broke the connection and focused back on the conversation his team and JNPR were having.

* * *

Ruby lead the large group into the Dragonhouse. She still couldn't believe that another person was added to her team. The fact that Aaron was teaching her for two weeks, and most likely for many more to come, could make things a little awkward, but the younger Rider was sure she could figure something out.

For once, Cerise didn't pounce her Rider on sight. Instead, she marched straight up to Yang and snorted hot air in the blonde's face. _Not part of team RWBY? Well, **I'm** part of team ANCR, where you have to catch criminals to be a part of it. As such, you aren't a member._

Yang put her hands on her hips and smirked. "You know, that can easily be fixed."

"This isn't a competition," Ruby said and turned to her dragon. There were time when she showed wisdom beyond her age, and others when she acted like a little kid. The young Rider didn't know how fast Cerise would mature out of this stage, but she hoped it wasn't fast.

Jaune looked around the large room with a confused look on his face. "No chairs?" he asked.

Aaron shook his head. "Not yet. Never had the Lien to buy any. Now though," he slowly turned in a circle on the spot, "I think I could make this place a little more livable for those who don't need incredible amounts of space just to move."

Nalia snorted smoke at her Rider, throwing him into a coughing fit. _Are you calling me fat?_ Everyone in the room burst out laughing, except Aaron who threw his hands up in mock surrender.

"It seems dragon females aren't so different from human ones," Ren said when the room calmed down.

 _Us dragons have a reason,_ Cerise said as Ruby sat down on one of her outstretched legs. _We have a reputation of beauty to uphold, and very few are scared of a dragon whose wings can't support their own weight._

"You don't think that we don't have the same problems?" Yang challenged.

Cerise looked Yang in the eye. _We are the most beautiful creatures alive. Even the elves say that. From what Ruby says, human definition of beauty changes every ten years, if that. Dragons have held our title for millennia._ The dragon raised the corners of her upper lips. _We win._

Yang blinked a few times, then slowly clapped her hands. "Well played, Cerise."

"So what were we watching again?" Nora asked no one in particular.

"Apocalypse is a good one," Weiss suggested, then turned to Aaron. "It's in space, which you seem to really like now." Aaron smiled and nodded his agreement.

Jaune just sighed. "You have a problem with Galaxy Wars, but not that movie?"

"I have a problem with Galaxy Wars when it's compared to Galaxy Trek. Science fantasy is not the same as science fiction! Trek is based off real world-"

"Squeak!" a sound interrupted Weiss. She froze in place, as did the rest of team RWBY. Team JNPR just looked around the floor, Ruby could only guess they were expecting rodents of some kind.

"I wouldn't think you'd have a rat problem in here," Pyrrha confirmed Ruby's suspicions.

"That wasn't a rat," Ruby said softly. She slowly stood up while never taking her eyes off the saddlebag that contained the two eggs. It was currently strapped to Nalia's saddle, and it was moving. The green dragon dropped to the floor and her Rider jumped up to his spot on her back. Aaron opened the saddlebag and carefully pulled out the golden egg. He slid out of the saddle and walked to an open spot on the floor.

"Is…is that a…" Jaune stammered.

"An egg?" Pyrrha finished, just as shocked.

"Yes, it is," Aaron said as he laid the egg on the floor. "One of the three Nalia and I brought with us. The first hatched for Ruby, the third is still resting." He nodded down at the shaking egg on the ground. "This one is ready to choose its Rider."

The older Rider looked at the unbonded girls of team RWBY. "Please stand an equal distance apart from each other and the egg." Weiss, Blake and Yang shot looks at each other, then rushed over to the egg and took up positions around it. Ruby was right behind them.

"We're finally going to see what a baby dragon looks like!" Nora yelled. Ruby turned back to look at her. The orange haired girl was grinning from ear to ear and shaking all over. Ren stood behind her, most likely ready to restrain the human lightning rod if need be. "I bet it's going to be as cute as a puppy!"

Ruby smiled. "You aren't far off." She turned back to look at her teammates. They were all staring at the egg intently, watching to see if any cracks appeared. Mentally, they were all radiating excitement. Yang, though, had something else the others didn't: anxiety. Ruby turned to look at her sister. She didn't notice it before, but there was a slight amount of fear in Yang's eyes. Ruby was worried for her sister. There was a good chance the dragon wasn't hatching for her, and she wanted it the most of all of them.

Cracks started appearing along the surface of the egg, and the squeaking inside intensified. Those waiting to see if the hatching was for them shifted on their feet. Soon enough, some of the cracks met up and a piece fell outward. A full foot stuck out the hole, and the loudest squeak yet erupted from inside. Instead of gaining leverage on the edges like Cerise did, the paw returned to the egg and the shaking started again. Another piece of the egg fell away not an inch away from the first, then another.

The egg rocked violently on the side farthest from the holes, shot forward, and a head and two front legs shot out of the holes. The underside of the hatchling's head fell to the floor. It then looked back at the egg and whimpered. Ruby tried to suppress a laugh as she took out her scroll. She didn't get enough pictures of Cerise when she was that small, she wouldn't make that same mistake again. The scene in front of her was too comical and cute to pass up.

The small dragon crawled back into the egg and started gripping the edges and forcing them outward. After a few more seconds, the hole was big enough for the hatchling to crawl out of. The small golden dragon stood proudly in the center of the triangle and 'roared' at the ceiling. Even in the muted light of the room, and with egg fluid coating its scales and wings, its scales shone brighter than either of the older dragons in the sun. Small spikes ran along its spine. Deep blue eyes took in the room. Its golden wings hung at its sides. All those on two legs smiled at the sight, and Ruby was snapping pictures.

Nalia hummed and her head came into Ruby's vision close to the floor. The golden hatchling looked up at the much larger dragon, curiosity in its eyes. _Welcome to the world, little one,_ Nalia said.

The small dragon squeaked again, then started looking around the room, or more specifically, the triangle around it. Its eyes passed over Weiss, causing the heiress' shoulders to slump slightly. However, the hatchling's eyes stopped on Blake. It cocked its head and sniffed the air. The hatchling took a few hesitant steps toward the cat Faunus. Blake stared down at the small creature slowly moving toward her with her mouth agape.

Yang quickly took in a breath, and her eyes looked took a forlorn look. Still, it was slight enough that Ruby could barely pick out a difference. Still, something didn't sit right with the young Rider. The hatchling was being curious about Blake, most likely because she kind of smelled like a cat. Also, it didn't give off the same feeling that Cerise did when she saw Ruby.

After a few more seconds, the hatchling turned away from Blake and continued its scan of the circle. It kept turning until its eyes met Yang's. The hatchling squeaked up at the blonde and took several rapid steps toward her. Yang looked at her sister with a nervous yet hopeful expression, an unspoken question in her eyes. Ruby just smiled and nodded.

Yang's face lit up and she knelt down to the hatchling's level. She slowly stuck her right hand out to the small dragon. Her shoulders visibly tensed up as the small dragon approached. The hatchling sniffed Yang's hand, then brushed its head against it.

Yang stayed in that position for a few seconds, though Ruby could tell her she was in severe pain. Then she started to visibly shake, and her face contorted. Ruby slammed her scroll back in a pocket as her sister started to fall backward. She hooked her arms under Yang's armpits to keep her from hitting the floor. At that point Yang didn't even try to keep the pain under control, and shook uncontrollably in Ruby's arms. Her arms and legs jerked around. Tears streamed down from her clenched eyes.

After about a minute, Yang fell motionless. Ruby sighed then looked up at her other teammates. All three of them formed a defensive wall between the hatchling and team JNPR. The members of said team all wore horrified expressions. Weiss and Blake also looked back with concern, but they saw Ruby go through the same thing before. Aaron kept his eyes on those who had never seen a dragon bond before. Meanwhile, the hatchling just cocked its head and looked at its new Rider curiously.

Another minute later, Yang groaned and rubbed the back of her head. "So that what that feels like," she moaned as she freed herself from her sister's arms. When the hatchling saw its Rider sit up, it squeaked once more and jumped up onto Yang's shoulder.

Aaron walked over to Yang and stuck out a hand. "Congratulations, Dragon Rider," he said with a smile on his face.

Yang took his hand and smiled herself. "Thanks," she said as Aaron hauled her to her feet. The hatchling on her shoulder hardly moved. As Aaron took his hand away, Yang saw the new silver mark on her own. She admired it for a moment and then nodded. "I'm not covering this up anytime soon."

"What did that dragon just do to Yang?" Jaune asked, intense worry creeping into his voice.

"Bonding to a dragon isn't exactly painless," Aaron explained. "It was actually the most painful thing I'd experienced in my life up until that moment. What comes after, though, is more than worth the pain."

The hatchling stood on Yang's shoulder and sniffed at her hair. "Hey, hey, I _know_ what you're thinking. My hair is not food," she said almost jokingly. While her teammates chuckled, Yang blinked a few times as if realizing something. "So that's what _that_ feels like."

Ruby patted Yang on the back. "You'll get used to it," she said, still smiling. The hatchling turned to Ruby and looked at her with a cocked head. The Rider stuck out a hand and scratched under the dragon's chin, dragging out a strange purr. "I think you'll get along just fine." She withdrew her hand and looked at the slime that coated it. "Hey Blake, could you go get us a few paper towels to wipe this little guy or girl down?"

"On it." Blake walked to the far side of the Dragonhouse to the bathroom that hadn't been shut off.

"Where can I get one of these cuties?" Nora shouted suddenly, standing on the tips of her toes. The rest of her team looked at her, shocked at the outburst. Aaron meanwhile, shifted unsteadily on his feet.

"Nora, it may not be polite to ask such a question," Pyrrha said.

"If asked in the way most common people think, it isn't," Aaron said. Nora fell flat on her feet and closed her mouth. "However, as I said before, we do have another egg with us." He bit his lip. "If you are willing, I can introduce the four of you to it." Everyone looked at the most experienced Rider with surprise, but for different reasons.

"What about me and Blake?" Weiss asked.

Aaron turned to look at the heiress. "The egg still can hatch for either of you, but it's been two weeks. No eggs have hatched after that time in fifty years. It needs to be introduced to more candidates." Weiss then stared at the ground and wrapped her arms around herself.

Ruby turned her focus back to her sister. Yang was scratching the side of the hatchling's head. "So you think of a name yet for him?" she asked. "Or her?"

Yang smiled while looking at her dragon. "I think Halcyon here is a boy." She turned to look at Ruby. "Well Rubes, I guess we're in it for the long haul."

"I'm sure it will be worth it," Ruby said casually, then she realized what Yang really meant. Yang was a Rider now. She was immortal too.

Ruby would never be alone.

The youngest Rider threw her arms around her sister and stayed there for a while. Yang returned the hug. "I told you I won't leave for a long time," she said. "You're not getting rid of me any time soon." Halcyon sniffed down at Ruby and crawled onto her shoulder. He rubbed his face against Ruby's and purred again.

Cerise walked over to the small group and stared lovingly at Halcyon. _Hello brother._

Halcyon squeaked and hopped off Ruby's shoulder. The two Riders, however, looked at Cerise in shock. "'Brother?'" Ruby and Yang asked in unison.

 _Yes. We are hatchmates._ Cerise lowered her head to Halcyon's level. The small dragon was jumping all over the place, happy to see his sister.

"When were you planning on telling us?" Ruby asked.

Cerise looked her Rider in the eyes sadly. _Hatchmates are more likely to hatch for those who are related, but it still doesn't happen that often._ She lowered her eyes. _I didn't want to get your hopes up, or destroy Weiss' and Blake's._

Neither Ruby nor Yang said anything for a few seconds. Eventually Yang shrugged and said, "I guess it doesn't matter now. Halcyon hatched and now we're all one big, happy family."

Halcyon circled Cerise and stopped when he saw her injured leg. He sniffed it, then snarled. The small dragon turned around and took up a defensive position in front of his sister's front right leg and searched the room for hostiles. Cerise chuckled. _My hero,_ she thought as she bumped her brother with her snout. Halcyon squeaked and playfully batted at Cerise' snout. _You don't need to worry about who did that. Ruby got them, and I've grown since then._ The small dragon turned back to Ruby and squeaked in her direction.

"I think that was a thank you," Yang said. "Having a second voice in your head is confusing."

"You'll sort it out soon enough," Ruby said as she elbowed her sister. A bell rang in the room, and it took a few seconds to realize it was the new door bell. She gasped. "I forgot about the pizza!" She quickly looked over to Aaron to make sure that he didn't have the last egg out in plain sight. He gently placed it in a saddlebag and nodded to Ruby. The youngest Rider walked over to the human sized door and took care of business kindly but quickly. She walked back carrying a large stack of twelve pizza boxes.

"A little excessive, don't you think?" Aaron asked with a smirk on his face.

"I didn't want to leave Nalia and Cerise out. Half of these are just for them."

Yang grabbed the top six boxes off the stack. "That's smart thinking, but I think Cerise could eat all of these and still be hungry," she said. "If she's is anything to go by, I bet Halcyon could eat most of this too."

Ruby laughed. "I don't think you're wrong there." She set her half of the stack on a shelf built onto the wall.

"You have any soda in here?" Jaune asked.

Ruby looked straight ahead and mentally berated herself. "I knew I was forgetting something." She looked at the two stacks and groaned. "No plates either."

Weiss sighed. "Remind me never to hire you as a party planner."

"Just tear off a piece of the box for a plate," Nora chirped. "Me and Ren used to do it that way all the time."

Halcyon jumped up onto the shelf with a paper towel on his back and started sniffing the boxes. Yang took one of the boxes and looked inside. "This one's Halcyon's," she said, and the golden hatchling chirped in agreement.

"Well, everybody grab a slice so we can get the movie started," Ruby said as she ripped the cover off one of the boxes. She grabbed two whole boxes for Cerise then sat down by her side. During the time everything else happened, Weiss set up the movie and a pause screen was being projected on the wall.

 _Is that what I think I smell?_ Cerise asked Ruby. The Rider smiled and opened one of the boxes. The dragon hummed her appreciation and quickly grabbed the pizza sized cookie from the box with her mouth.

Ruby laughed at her dragon then looked over at Yang and hers. Halcyon was going to town on a meat lover's pizza and Yang watched with an almost motherly smile on her face. She also rubbed Halcyon's back with a wet paper towel. Ruby smiled as well. She couldn't wait for her sister to fully understand what her dragon means to her, just as long as it doesn't happen the same way it happened for Ruby and Cerise.

* * *

 **Gosh dang it! Cookies found their way back in… Also, 'OC joins team RWBY' cliché (ding!). Yes, I know it's been overdone, but I didn't like the idea of Aaron going at it alone, as he would do most stuff with RWBY anyway, nor did I like the idea of him going on another team full of OCs.**

 **I will say when I started this, I didn't think I'd give Yang an egg. In fact, she was on my list of who** _ **not**_ **to give an egg to. I think I came to the decision back when Ruby was telling the others she was immortal. Family is important, no matter where you are.**

 **I think I may be taking a break from writing soon. The last bit of this chapter took way too long to write and I bet its total crap. My head is not in the right place either. I don't know if it will happen after this chapter or a future one, but I feel it's coming soon.**

 **Anyway, hoped you enjoyed this chapter and helped alleviate some of the pain from the most recent series episodes.**


	14. Names

**Wow. Last chapter flung Rubys and Scales well over ten thousand views. I've said it before, but I** _ **never**_ **thought this story would be this popular. This story is sitting at just under a hundred favorites, which puts me in the top 75 in Inheritance Cycle crossovers and in the top 200 for RWBY crossovers (at the time of upload). My family and friends aren't paying you all to read and like this, are they? Also, thank you to those who went out of their way to say that the last chapter wasn't bad. If that was one I thought was bad, and people really liked it, how good are the ones I'm immensely proud of? Another thing, I've gone from saying that I might be taking a break to getting a backlog started? Maybe I just shouldn't say anything timing related at all.  
**

 **Enough patting myself on the back, now on to the story.**

* * *

Aaron silently rode the elevator up to professor Ozpin's office. He was called up on the second day of classes for a meeting with Beacon's headmaster. Why, he could only guess.

The elevator doors opened and the Rider stepped into the spacious office. Ozpin sat behind his desk reading something over. He looked up and smiled at his guest. "Aaron, welcome. Please take a seat." The headmaster gestured at the only other chair in the room. Aaron sat down as Ozpin took a sip of his coffee. "So, how have your first few classes gone?"

Aaron shrugged. "Fairly well, I'd guess," he said. "I found all my classes before their start time, which is surprising because I'm not used to there being set times at all. I've read over the syllabuses—syllabi?—and overall the combined load is comparable to my studies back home."

"Anything strange happen over the past few days?"

"Only that Ruby disappeared a few times yesterday. She said it was leadership training, but I've seen Jaune walking around during that same time-frame." Aaron locked eyes with Ozpin. "But we're not here to discuss my schooling, are we?"

Ozpin sighed and set his coffee down. "No, we are not. It's come to my attention that Yang Xiao Long has been walking around campus with a golden dragon on her shoulder. May I ask when and why this has happened?"

Aaron frowned. He didn't like where this was heading. "Halcyon hatched for Yang on Sunday. They bonded shortly after. As for why he's on her shoulder, a new bonded pair should spend most if not all of their first few days together. The hatchlings are safer that way and it helps them grow."

Ozpin nodded. "Are there going to be any other small dragons around Beacon anytime soon?"

The Rider's eye's narrowed slightly. If he lied, he could jeopardize his and Nalia's position at the school. Ruby, Yang, and their dragons could also be in trouble by accessory. Ozpin was trapping him. "There is one more egg under my protection, but I don't want word of that getting out." Beacons headmaster sighed in, _What was that, relief?_ Aaron thought. _Why does he care?_

Ozpin took another sip of his coffee before speaking again. "You don't trust me, do you?"

Aaron crossed his arms. "The only two people I know who are as generous as you have been, without asking anything in return, adopted me seven years ago."

Beacon's headmaster didn't say anything for a few seconds. "Believe it or not, you are not the first Alagaësian I've met." Aaron blinked in surprise. "He was a strange old man who went by the name-"

"-Tenga." Aaron finished. "He's the one who allowed me and Nalia to come here, though in an indirect way."

Ozpin nodded. "Tenga was here only a few months before you arrived. He kept going on about how he 'answered the question.'" He paused. "He also spoke about the Fall of the Dragon Riders."

"I'm not surprised. I'm sure the Fall is all anybody can think about, and only think. If they spoke out, they were killed."

"Betrayed by fourteen of your own, and those few managed to kill off hundreds of Riders and dragons. Did nobody see the signs?"

"Plenty did. By the time the Elders figured it out, it was too late to do anything other than mount a defense." Aaron shook his head. "If Galbatorix was right about one thing, it's that we were arrogant and overconfident."

 _Aaron, be careful what you say,_ Nalia warned. _You may have said too much already._ The Rider barely acknowledged his dragon.

"Tenga also spoke of the atrocities Galbatorix commissioned," Ozpin continued, "even in his first years as king. The burning of villages, forced conscription, incredibly raised taxes, swearing genocide against the Urgals."

Aaron looked down at his lap and clenched his fists. "And no one has the power to stop him."

"On the last day Tenga was here, he told me another Alagaësian could show up here sometime soon. Specifically, he said a young Rider in need of help." The Rider's eyes shot back up to Ozpin, his mouth hanging slightly open. "I initially discounted it as the ravings of an old man, then you and Nalia arrived in the Emerald Forest a few weeks later."

Aaron stayed silent, trying to comprehend what Ozpin told him. He dug into his memory to remember where he found the scroll that had the transportation spell. It was buried in the wall of the cave where he and Nalia hid for their last night in Alagaësia. He only found it by chance when he lost his footing on the slick floor and knocked a rock off the wall. _He…he couldn't have planned all that. We were never followed. Not even the elves knew exactly where we were. How is this possible?_

 _I don't know, Aaron,_ Nalia responded, a little concerned. _If we ever get back to Alagaësia though, we will have to find Tenga and ask him ourselves._

"That is the reason I have allowed you to stay and study at Beacon," Ozpin said. "Your being here validated everything Tenga had to say. You have even repeated many of the things he said." He paused. "I can't turn a blind eye to those who seek to flee a kingdom that oppresses its people in such a way. No one should have to live in fear."

"Amen to that," Aaron said.

"I know you may not fully trust me, and I know that there may not be a way to gain your trust after my experiment the day you met Ruby, but know I will not cast you, or any of the dragons out of Beacon. You are all much safer here than out of the Kingdoms."

Ozpin paused. "That being said, I have to ask for your help on something, and it's not something do with a clean conscious. "

Aaron looked at the headmaster skeptically. "I'm listening."

"I would like you to keep a closer eye on Ruby."

The Rider learned forward in his chair at the mention of one of his students. "Has she done something wrong? Is she in danger?"

"We have no first year leadership training classes at the times she 'disappeared.' Ruby and her dragon were in the city twice yesterday, and were flying in that direction when you were in the elevator. While they were there, several drivers fell asleep at the wheel and crashed. All of them had Faunus children in the trunk."

Aaron brought a hand up to his face in thought. "I take it all the children were in similar condition to those in the warehouse?" Ozpin nodded. The Rider thought it over. "She's putting herself in danger by messing with a slave ring. I've been on teams that tracked slavers down back in Alagaësia, and they always tried to hit us back after we put a dent in their profits." He spat out the last word.

The Rider sighed. "Ruby is acting out because of what she saw in that warehouse. She's so focused on helping others, she's not seeing the big picture. She can't take them on by herself."

Ozpin nodded. "While she is now capable of much more than other students, and even many professional huntsmen, she is still young and inexperienced. She could very well get in over her head. I've known many people who have gone after the Nevermores, very few of them have ever come back."

Aaron sighed. "I'll talk to her. Hopefully she'll listen to reason."

"That is all I ask," Ozpin said. "Now, that is all I've had for you. You are dismissed."

Aaron stood up and made his way back to the elevator, thoughts and memories swimming in his head. As the elevator doors closed, he slumped against the back wall. _Here we go again…_

* * *

 _Come on, Cerise, we're late already!_ Ruby urged.

 _I'm not as fast as Nalia,_ Cerise huffed. _This is the first time we've been late, I'm sure Aaron and Nalia will let it slide once._

 _Hopefully._ Ruby and Cerise were flying back to Beacon from the opposite side of Vale from yet another kidnapping site. Instead of being extremely in their face like Aaron was when he and Ruby rescued Violet, Ruby stayed in the shadows and on the rooftops, focusing on using magic to stop the kidnappers. The plan worked so far, and the Faunus kids were rescued shortly afterward by people on the streets responding to the accident. Ruby always stayed nearby until police or paramedics showed up, just in case something else went wrong.

Cerise angled toward the Dragonhouse and landed soon after. Ruby quickly untied the straps that held her in the saddle. She jumped down from her dragon's back just as the main door opened for Cerise. Inside, Nalia was curled up on the other side of the building with Halcyon napping by her feet. Aaron and Yang stood by their respective dragons. Nalia looked up from the two Riders in front of her and looked at the new arrivals. _Nice of you to join us,_ she called.

"Sorry," Ruby said as she walked over to the other group. "I got held up in leadership training." Nalia snorted, but said nothing more. The main door closed behind Cerise.

Yang turned to her sister and smiled. "Hey Ruby, check out what I can do." She focused her attention on the rock in her hand. "Stenr reisa." The rock slowly floated to a few inches above her hand. Yang's smile broadened. "You aren't the only one who can do that party trick anymore."

"If you do that at a party where anyone but team JNPR is there," Aaron said in a no-nonsense tone, "we're going to have to have an unpleasant conversation."

"Relax, I know you don't want magic to become general knowledge. Honestly, it kind of makes sense. You don't want to flaunt a tactical advantage."

"Well that's one way to put it." Aaron turned to Ruby. "Now that you both are here, I can explain some crucial information that I should have explained before." Cerise lay down on the floor and stretched a leg out. Ruby and Yang sat down on it.

"Back on the day the rest of the team was introduced to the eggs, Weiss made a comment about how she didn't think everything needed its own name." Ruby narrowed her eyes in confusion. "The thing is, everything and everyone has its own unique name.

"For example," Aaron stuck out a hand, "Brisingr!" A small flame burst to life in his hand. "Brisingr isn't just the word for fire in the Ancient Language, it _is_ fire. You can control fire anyway you want, and if you have enough experience, you can extinguish fire using only its name." Ruby nodded. She thought she understood, but she didn't quite understand the significance.

"The same can be said for living things. Every animal, every plant, every person has a true name. I'm not talking about names that are used on the streets and you write on homework. No, a true name is exactly _who_ that person is. It contains every aspect of their personality, their hopes, their dreams, their flaws, everything.

"Knowing your own true name can help solidify who you are as person. You can gain confidence in everything you do. Telling another person your true name is an extreme sign of trust. Unfortunately, you are giving that person complete control over yourself." Aaron shuddered. "If that person has evil intentions though, you essentially become their slave." Ruby tensed up at the last word and clenched a fist. Aaron's eyes rested fully on her for a split second, then returned to their previous position.

"My advice, if you ever learn your own true name, keep it to yourself. You are literally putting your life in someone else's hands." He paused. "The most common situation for people to reveal their true names is if they are about to make a marriage proposal. Even though for you two, your partner may not understand a word of it, be careful. He may take advantage of it at some point."

Ruby and Yang sat quiet for several seconds, trying to process what they just heard. "There is some pretty messed up stuff where you're from," Yang said finally. Aaron just nodded.

"So do people still look for their true names, even with all the consequences?" Ruby asked.

"They do," Aaron responded. "Some magicians think the knowledge of who they are will increase their power, and this is true to an extent. Elves don't fear for their safety as much because they typically have the best mental defenses of any race, so many actively search for their true name."

Ruby nodded, then looked back at the floor. _We won't be searching for ours any time soon,_ she said to Cerise.

 _I'm not sure we'd be able to if we wanted to,_ Cerise responded. _I don't think our knowledge of the Ancient Language is sufficient._

"Do any of you have any further questions on the topic?" Aaron asked. No one spoke up. "Good, now Ruby, how much experience do you have in hand-to-hand combat?"

Both girls looked up at Aaron, but had very different reactions. While Yang snickered, Ruby tried to make herself small on Cerise' leg. "Um, none really," she mumbled.

"Oh come on, Ruby," Yang said as she gave her sister a push. "You can't say none, we've fought a few times."

"Yeah, but they were never _fight_ fights. You always won anyway."

"Well, it looks like your skill is about to change." Yang pushed on Ruby's back forcing her to stand. Ruby looked slightly down at her sister and gave her a mock glare. Yang just gave her a thumbs up.

Ruby sighed, removed Crescent Rose from her belt, and tossed the small red box at her sister. "So what do you want me to do?" she asked Aaron.

Aaron gave a full arm shrug. "Right now, I just want you to hit me." Ruby nodded and got into the fighting position she saw Yang fall into several times before. She threw a wide punch at Aaron's right side and connected. He didn't even flinch. Ruby tried again with her other arm but got the same result.

"Come on, Ruby, you can do better than that," Aaron said.

"Ruby, you're flailing your arms," Yang chipped in. "Keep your arms closer to your body. You can get more of your weight behind your swings that way."

The youngest Rider acknowledged both commenters and set back in her fighting stance. Ruby again threw a punch at Aaron's right side, but it was more focused, and the older Rider took half a step back when the fist landed. Encouraged by her small victory, Ruby threw a follow-up punch with her right hand, only for it to be caught by Aaron's left. "You're getting the strength part," he said, "but you need to be faster. You won't have much time after any kind of attack before your opponent will counter attack."

Yang laughed. "Wow, I never thought someone would say that you need to be faster."

Ruby shot another glare at her sister. "I know where you sleep."

The blonde Rider mock gasped. "Oh no, whatever shall I do?"

"Ruby, focus," Aaron said, a hint of amusement creeping into his voice. Ruby turned back and saw Aaron had set into a fighting position. She tensed up slightly. "What, you thought your opponents would let you used them as a punching bag?" The red Rider put her arms up in front of her body and lowered her center of mass. Aaron's face once again took the completely blank look that he always wore when sparring with weapons. This wouldn't be any different from their previous matches.

Aaron moved first by throwing a quick jab at Ruby's left shoulder. She dodged out of the way of that one but stepped into a second. Ruby cried out for a second as Aaron pulled back a few feet.

Like all the other fights, Ruby knew she would have to get the upper hand quickly, or else Aaron would outlast her and beat her. She'd only won a handful of fights since they started, and only in the past week. Ruby charged Aaron, ducked under one punch and jabbed the more experienced fighter in the gut. She fully passed under his arm then elbowed him in the back. Aaron took a few steps forward, then turned back to face Ruby, a small smirk on his face. "Good, you're learning. There's more you can take from our armed fights and apply it to here though."

Ruby smirked back. "I'll keep that in mind." She charged again, this time aiming high for the chest. Aaron redirected Ruby's first punch, then launched one himself. It connected with Ruby's chest, and she went sprawling toward Yang, Cerise, and the now awake Halcyon. "Ow," she finally said after coming to a rest by her sister's feet.

Yang helped Ruby to her feet. "Take a break sis, let me show you how it's done."

Ruby turned her head back Aaron, and he just shrugged. "Don't break him Yang," Ruby said turning back to her sister. "He just got added to the team, and sidelining him now would be rude."

The blonde Rider laughed. "I'll do my best." Yang walked over to where Ruby started her matches against Aaron.

Ruby, meanwhile, sat down on Cerise' leg. _You did better than I thought you would,_ the red dragon told her Rider.

 _You didn't think I'd be able to touch him, did you?_ Ruby asked her bond-mate.

 _Not as much as you did,_ Cerise admitted. _You aren't exactly the world's best fist fighter._

Ruby playfully shoved her dragon's head away. _I love you too._

The red dragon hummed and her eyes gleamed. _Then get stronger for me._ The moment Cerise and Ruby had was killed when Halcyon chirped at his own rider. Ruby didn't even notice the fight started. Aaron was being forced back step by step by the onslaught Yang threw out. Only a few of the punches landed though, but when they did, they spun Aaron around or forced him to the floor. He sprung back up every time though, and he didn't seem to be tiring.

As time drew on, Aaron avoided or deflected more and more of Yang's strikes, and the latter grew visibly frustrated. Each jab and hook of hers gained more power, but lacked focus. Even Ruby could see that. Aaron apparently saw gaps in his opponent's defenses, as he suddenly launched into a counter offensive which forced Yang to start backpedaling. After another few seconds, Aaron delivered a punch to the gut and a vicious right hook to Yang's cheek. The blonde Rider fell to the ground and didn't get up right away. Halcyon shrieked and rushed to her side.

"You're a natural fist fighter, aren't you?" Aaron panted.

"Yeah," Yang growled as she picked herself off the ground. "How did you do that?"

"When you have enough experience, there isn't much of a difference between fighting with a weapon and fighting unarmed. I will say, if you retained your skill throughout the spar, you would have bested me."

Yang stood silent for a few seconds. Ruby could almost see the steam rising out of her sister's ears. but her eyes stayed lilac. "What do you mean by that?" Yang snapped.

"As you got frustrated, your attacks grew wild. Unfocused. That may work against Grimm, but against people, even someone learning the basics could predict where you were going to strike."

Yang blinked a few times then shot a questioning glance at Ruby, who really was learning the basics of fist fighting. The red shrugged. "I could tell your attacks were getting stronger, but like Aaron said, they got wild toward the end."

The blonde turned back to Aaron. "The problem is, that's what I do. I get angry, I get stronger."

Aaron scoffed. "I've known Riders who thought that, it got them more injured than others, and it was never proven."

"She means it though," Ruby chipped in. "It's her Semblance. The angrier she gets, the stronger she gets. Sometimes she get so hot her hair nearly catches fire."

Aaron looked at Ruby, then back at Yang and back again. "Really?" Ruby nodded and Aaron covered his mouth with a hand. "The more things I learn here…" He shook his head and sighed. "What's next? Can Weiss walk through walls?"

"Weiss has glyphs." Upon seeing Aaron's confused reaction, Ruby continued. "It's hard to explain, but her glyphs can give a speed boost, provide solid platforms, oh, and she's working on one that messes with time."

Aaron ran a hand over his hat like he would his hair. "How is any of this possible?"

 _I'm sure they've thought the same thing more than once since we've shown up,_ Nalia commented to everyone. Ruby just laughed and nodded.

"Anyway," Aaron said, "would you like to get back at it, Ruby?" The red Rider simply jumped off Cerise' leg and walked to her starting position. Over the next half hour, Aaron and Yang taught the youngest of them how to fight unarmed. Somewhere along the line, Aaron suggested they switch to a more leg based approach. It turns out, throwing in some kicks came naturally to Ruby. She could keep Aaron at a distance and even got in some good hits. In one of the sparring matches, she activated her Semblance to deliver a blindingly fast and powerful blow. It flung Aaron to the other side of the Dragonhouse. After that, Ruby kept a lid on it, no matter how badly she was losing. Freshly awakened Aura wasn't the strongest thing in the world.

Unfortunately, they all had a biology class to get to which cut the training session short. Their school uniforms were in their rooms on the other side of campus, which cut off even more time. All the dragons stayed in the Dragonhouse, and if the day before was anything to go by, Nalia had a history lesson for Cerise and Halcyon, if the gold hatchling paid attention at all. For some reason, Aaron expected Ruby to be able to pay attention to both what was being said in front of her and what Cerise heard. She understood the reasoning behind it, but it was too much to handle at one time.

Ruby lead the way out of the Dragonhouse and across campus. Shortly after the group left, Aaron walked up next to her. "Ruby, I need to talk to you about something," he said in a low voice.

"What's the problem?" Ruby asked nonchalantly.

Aaron paused before continuing. "Where did you really go those two times yesterday and earlier today?"

Ruby tripped on flat ground, but recovered quickly. "I thought I said I was at leadership training."

Aaron's eyes saddened. "Twice a day? One-on-one training?"

The younger Rider tried to not let her newfound anxiety show. "No, it's group training, and there was a scheduling problem with the professor who teaches it."

The older Rider sighed. "Ruby, I've seen all other first year team leaders during those times. Where were you?"

Ruby looked at the ground, unsure of what to say. _I told you we should have told him,_ Cerise scolded from the Dragonhouse.

 _Maybe you were right._ Ruby sighed. "Okay, me and Cerise were downtown. The Nevermores have been incredibly active the past two days, and…" she closed her eyes tightly and clenched a fist. "I can't let them get away with it, and they haven't. Got to them before the VABER Alerts were released."

Aaron nodded slowly. "Trust me, I know the feeling. I know you feel obligated to do this yourself, to try and help as many people as you can. Normally, I'd say keep at it, but these aren't ordinary criminals."

Ruby stopped in place looked up at Aaron in shock. "Are you asking me to _stop?_ Isn't this what you've been training me for?" She still tried to keep her voice down so people wouldn't stare. It was a sensitive subject after all.

"Absolutely not. I've saying you're going about this wrong. Those criminals are organized. They have plans, and they don't like having their," Aaron contorted his face in disgust, " _trade goods_ messed with. Me and Nalia tried to take down a slave ring by ourselves back in Alagaësia, and it nearly got us, and many other people killed, including those we were trying to save." He sighed. "No, I don't want you to turn the other way, just don't lie to us about this. Any of us will back you up. Don't go alone unless it's absolutely necessary."

Ruby nodded absentmindedly, then continued walking toward her dorm. It was actually one of the better outcomes she hoped for if someone found out. He was right, though. She couldn't keep pretending all the kidnappings were unrelated. If the Nevermores were as dangerous as Aaron made them out to be, she would need all the help she could get.

 _Please tell me we aren't going out alone again,_ Cerise pleaded with Ruby.

 _Not unless we have to._

* * *

 **Yes, another filler chapter. This will be the last one for a while though. I have some…interesting things planned before the next intersection with Volume II.**

 **On a more somber note, one year ago today, Monty Oum passed away. I regret to say I only got into RWBY and Red vs Blue after he passed, so I am unable to say how his passing affected me. To me, it was just some sad news out of Rooster Teeth. Now though, I realize what a great person we lost.  
**

 **Monty, if you're reading this up there, we love you, we miss you, and I'm sorry for what I have planned for your characters.**


	15. Little Red Rider Hood

**Oh my gosh, 100 favorites? Thank you all so much! As a thanks for all your support, I'm putting this chapter out a few days early. Yes, it is a thank you despite what some of you might think once you read far enough.**

 **Don't really have anything else to say here, except I'm trying out some new POVs for the second half. Also, all perspectives have at least some overlap. Now off we go!**

* * *

"We have a few hours until class," Ruby said to Cerise. "You want to go flying for a bit?"

Cerise hummed and nodded. _How long has it been since we flew just to fly?_

Ruby laughed and smiled. "Have we ever besides that first time?"

"Hey, don't talk about flying in front of us," Yang called from where she sat by Halcyon. "We won't be able to get airborne for another month."

"We had to wait that long, so do you," Ruby shot back.

Nalia lifted her head on the other side of the Dragonhouse. _Are you going out for other reasons?_ the eldest dragon asked. Yang looked at Ruby with a questioning gaze, evidently hearing Nalia's question. Ruby told the rest of the team the night before about what she was really up to.

"There's nothing going on right now" _,_ Ruby responded as she climbed into Cerise' saddle. "I'm not feeling anything out of the ordinary at all down there. We just want to spend some time together" _._

Nalia blinked and snorted. _Then may the sun shine on your backs. If something does happen, please tell us._

"We will _."_ Cerise walked toward the automated door as Ruby strapped herself in. "See you all later!" Ruby called as her dragon left the building. She grabbed onto the spike in front of her and waited for the intense G-forces of takeoff. Cerise ran forward a few steps and jumped into the air, snapping her wings open at the same time.

 _You have any preferences on where we go?_ Cerise asked her Rider.

Ruby smiled. _Anywhere but restricted airspace or deep into the Emerald Forest. I don't want to see if we can take on a Nevermore by ourselves._ She leaned forward in the saddle as Cerise flew, using the dragon's head as a windbreak. Even though she could now afford to get some actual eye protection for flying, Ruby couldn't decide if she wanted just goggles or to get a full helmet. Both had their own advantages. It would most likely come down to whether or not either matched her outfit.

The red dragon turned to look back at her Rider. _Nalia told me about something I should be able to do up here. You willing to give it a shot?_

The young Rider cocked her head and smiled. _Why not?_

Excitement flowed off Cerise. _Just hold onto the spike in front of you and leave the rest to me._ She faced forward again and Ruby tightened her grip on the spike in front of the saddle. Ruby felt her dragon tug at her mind, with such force the young Rider felt as though she was leaving her own body. She panicked for a second, then she felt reassuring thoughts roll off Cerise, and she surrendered herself. Ruby's vision blurred, then jumped forward a few feet.

Though from this new perspective, the colors were different. Reds and greens didn't stick out as much, though blues popped like never before. Ruby's new perspective turned around, and she gasped, or at least tried to. _Cerise, what did you do?_ she thought, somewhere between terrified and awestruck. Ruby was staring back at herself. Her face was blank despite all attempts to change it.

Cerise hummed, though Ruby felt as if she was the one humming. _I've drawn your mind into mine. This way you can see what I see, and feel what I feel._ The perspective changed back front. _Don't worry, I won't let you fall._ Cerise roared, then flew toward open forest. The dragon's pure joy infected Ruby, and all negative thoughts disappeared.

Somewhere in the flight, Ruby couldn't tell where Cerise' body ended and where hers began. They might as well have been the same dragon. They roared in delight as the trees flew past beneath them. The air flowed smoothly past their wings as they climbed. Soon the forest gave way to ocean, but still they climbed.

When they reached about the same height as when they went skydiving, they folded their wings and dropped like a javelin through the air. They spun as they fell, the water taking the appearance of a whirlpool. Both minds screamed with joy at the feeling of the air rushing past them faster than ever before. At a respectable distance, they snapped their wings open and glided to just above the water. They dipped their claws into the cool ocean below, kicking up an impressive rooster tail.

Eventually, they angled back toward dry land, still moving incredibly fast from the nearly two mile dive. They rose above the cliffs and swung around Beacon before heading for a mountain in the Emerald Forest. Their speed slowly trickled off as they rose to the top of the mountain. Adrenaline still pumped through their veins, though at a much slower rate than during the dive.

They landed on top of the mountain and roared at the sky. Soon after that, Ruby felt her mind pulling away from Cerise. She blinked a few times as she adjusted back to the normal color range. Her body shook from the adrenaline rush of the past half-hour. "That was amazing!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. "How can you stay on the ground so much?"

Cerise laughed. _I don't get to fly as much as I want to. Then again, I'd spend my whole life in the sky if I could._ The dragon turned to look at her Rider and started laughing again.

"What's so funny?"

 _You're soaked, and your hair is a mess._ Cerise simply sent her Rider an image of how she appeared. Ruby looked down and started laughing herself. She was completely drenched in seawater, and she didn't even feel it until she saw it. Seeing her hair sticking out at all angles through her dragon's eyes cracked her up even more. She laughed even harder because she _saw_ herself laughing through Cerise. Both dragon and Rider laughed with each other for a long time before finally settling down.

Cerise lay down on her belly. _I know I just said I'd like to spend my whole life in the air, but that drop hurt my wings more than expected. I need a break._

Ruby unstrapped her legs from the saddle and slid down her dragon's side. She patted her bondmate on the cheek. "I'm fine with that. Don't want to push you too hard." The Rider sat down next to her dragon's head and looked out over the city below them. As great the view from above was, there's still something special about seeing the city from a more level angle.

 _Have you ever been outside of Vale?_ Cerise asked after a few minutes of silence.

The young Rider shook her head. "Other than Patch, no. Travel between kingdoms isn't exactly easy. There are Grimm practically everywhere. Lately, most civilian ships have to have a military escort to make it where they're going, even between here and Vacuo." Ruby turned to look Cerise in the eye. "I guess we'll have plenty of time to change that." She scratched behind one of her dragon's ears. Cerise leaned into it and hummed happily.

The two sat on top of the mountain for a long time, not talking about much, just happy to be in each other's company. No Grimm came to disturb the two. A light breeze blew by the mountain. The only reason Ruby didn't fall asleep by her dragon's side was because she had class coming up and she didn't want to miss it.

"I think we should be heading back now, Cerise." Ruby stood up and climbed into the saddle. Cerise stretched her wings before standing up herself. She lightly jumped off the mountaintop as soon as Ruby strapped herself in. The light breeze turned into a steady tailwind as they rose. Ruby looked to the city as they approached from the south. Given the past few days, she couldn't help but stretch her mind out to the city.

Unfortunately, it didn't take her too long to find what she hoped she wouldn't. On the outskirts of the residential district, another little girl was being kidnapped. Cerise immediately turned in that direction and increased her speed. Ruby stretched her mind out to the other dragons and Riders at Beacon. _I've got another one,_ she called. _Western side of the residential district._

Nalia didn't take long to respond. _Be careful, I don't like how active they've been the past few days._

 _Probably trying to make up for lost profits,_ Aaron growled. _Do what you can, then get back here._ Yang just sent a wave of encouragement. Ruby mentally nodded then focused back on the source of the panic. Cerise flew high over the city to appear no larger than a bird. For what felt like the thousandth time, Ruby was glad Ozpin was able to get the dragons nearly free roam over the city.

The car was moving north toward the commercial district on a main road. Too many other people lined the sidewalks for her normal plan to work. Ruby scouted the roads ahead, looking for spots where foot traffic cleared up or where traffic was bumper to bumper and a fender bender would be acceptable. Unfortunately, neither of those looked to be options for the near future.

The young Rider decided to test something she'd only done with Yang while practicing. Ruby sent her mind out toward the kidnapper, and searched for his intended route and target. She found what she was looking for, and she didn't like it. While the route eventually made it to less populated roads in the commercial district, the kidnapper's intended target was outside the city, to meet up with more of the Nevermores and transport even more kids to another location. What was worse, the transport was to leave in a half hour.

Cerise flew ahead of the kidnapper toward an ideal ambush location. The area was filled mostly with small businesses, and very few people walked the sidewalks at that time. The red dragon stayed a few hundred feet in the air and Ruby unstrapped her legs from the saddle. Ruby slid off the side of the her dragon and dropped to the roof. She lightened her landing with magic as not to disturb those inside. Cerise continued flying in the direction they came from to hopefully throw off the kidnapper.

Ruby waited for several minutes before the kidnapper's car to turn down the road. Luckily, the sidewalks were still relatively clear. The Rider kept her head down as the car approached the store she crouched on. She focused her attention on the driver and said, "Slytha." The driver's head fell onto the horn of his car. The car veered to the left and ran straight into a light post. Ruby winced at the impact. She didn't like damaging city property, but it was better than the alternative.

Several people along the sidewalk immediately dropped what they were doing and rushed to the crashed vehicle. A man reached through the broken driver's side window and checked on the driver. "Hey, this guy's asleep!" Ruby heard the man yell.

There was a second's pause before someone else yelled, "Check the trunk!" A couple of Faunus gathered around the rear of the vehicle. One of them placed one of their dog ears to the trunk.

"There's definitely someone in here," he said. A few people at the front of the car forced the driver's side door open and one of them pressed the hatch release. The trunk clicked open and the Faunus at the back opened it the rest of the way. Both of them took a step back at what they saw. The female of the couple covered her mouth with a hand.

A police cruiser turned down the street, lights flashing and sirens blaring. Those at the car waved at the waved at the car as it approached as if it was just passing through. It came to a stop just behind the crashed vehicle. The officer inside side stepped out and called, "Another Faunus?" Those near the wreck all said their own confirmations, and the officer reached back inside and pulled out a large first aid kit. He grabbed his radio and said something into it, most likely calling for backup.

Ruby sighed and slowly moved away from the edge of the roof. _Cerise,_ she called, _I'm ready for pickup._

 _I'll meet you three blocks down,_ the dragon responded. _There's a large enough park there for me to land._ Ruby nodded externally, then started running across rooftops away from the crime scene. Two blocks down, she dropped into an alley, then blended in with the crowd on the street, occasionally looking back at the crash like everyone else.

Ruby entered the small park just as Cerise landed in the center. The people close by yelled in surprise and ran for cover. Ruby, however, ran full steam toward her dragon and leaped from the ground directly into the saddle. Cerise didn't wait for her Rider to strap in and took off immediately.

Once in the air, Cerise turned back to Ruby and said, _I've told Aaron and Nalia about that transport. Nalia is meeting us just outside the city._

 _What about Aaron?_ Ruby asked.

 _He's in class right now, and he thinks the three of us can handle it._ Cerise turned back front and sped toward the forest of Forever Fall due north of the city. Out of the corner of her eye, Ruby saw Nalia flying in the same direction. The two dragons met up and hovered in place for a few seconds.

 _Lead the way, Rider,_ Nalia said. Ruby nodded then sent Cerise a clearer image of where to go and what to look for. The red dragon took off toward the drop off location, as fast as her wings could carry her. Nalia flew at their four o'clock and kept pace nicely. Still, at their speed, they would barely make it to the drop off in time.

After a few minutes of flying, Ruby heard the distinctive sound of a Bullhead's engines behind her. She turned around and sure enough, a black and gray VTOL was catching up, fast. Nalia looked back as well and growled. _They aren't friendly,_ she said. _I'll deal with them, you two go ahead._ The green dragon turned around and roared a challenge at the Bullhead.

Ruby and Cerise kept flying toward the drop off. They heard the unmistakable sound of chain gun fire behind them. Even though she knew Nalia could take care of herself, Ruby knew what kind of damage a weapon like that can deliver. Also, she didn't know how dragon scales hold up to sustained fire.

After flying over a hill, Ruby saw another two Bullheads resting on the beach. She scowled, grabbed Crescent Rose and extended the weapon to rifle mode. She looked through the scope at those on the ground. Several men walked around carrying rifles and other assorted weapons. Others were hauling Faunus children from the backs of white and black windowless vans. One man looked directly at Ruby and scowled. He took out a scroll and pressed a button on it.

Shortly after that, the sky lit up around Ruby and Cerise. Dust rounds exploded all around them and against Cerise' rather exposed belly. Ruby felt her energy draining from the wards fast. After only a few seconds, the wards fell and the rounds started actually hitting Cerise. Dozens tore through her wings and through the scales on her underside. The red dragon roared in pain, and Ruby did as well. Cerise tried to turn back, but a Lightning Dust round impacted a joint where wing met body. Both dragon and Rider fell from the sky.

Cerise landed hard on the beach, throwing Ruby from the saddle. Somewhere in the crash, Ruby lost her grip on Crescent Rose and it flew across the sand. She weakly looked up and saw Cerise being surrounded by armed guards and robots, far more than could be seen from the air. Ruby panicked and stretched her mind out toward Nalia and the rest of her team at Beacon. _I need backup, now!_

A sudden electrical shock ran through Ruby and she screamed. The current flowed through her for what seemed like minutes. When it stopped, someone kicked Ruby over and held a gun to her face. The man Ruby saw scowl entered her vision range. "So you're the one who's been interfering with our operation," he growled, looking down at the defenseless Rider.

"Boss," someone Ruby could not see said, "Big Green took down Condor. What do we do now?"

'Boss' simply nodded. "Pack these two up. Use the stronger stuff on both of them." The guard with a riffle aimed at Ruby's head turned the gun around and smashed it into her face. Stars danced in her vision, and she felt blood start trickling down her nose. Something sharp pressed itself through the side of Ruby's neck. Soon everything but the pain dulled. Her vision became distorted and she could no longer feel Cerise in her head, even though she was staring right into her panic filled eyes.

"Cer…Ceerreeee…" Ruby attempted to say her dragon's name, but that's all that came out. Something struck her hard on the side of the head again, and everything went black.

* * *

Nalia roared at the large-metal-Bull-bird that approached from the impossible-built-two-leg-city. Inside, those fighting for the black-monster-bird slave organization wanted to shoot the green dragon out of the sky. Little did they know they were attacking the fastest dragon alive and the strongest on Remnant. The fools would learn soon enough.

The large-metal-Bull-bird fired its small-but-strong arrows at Nalia at an alarming rate. They impacted the dragon's wards and started draining her energy at impossible speed. She dove out of the way of the onslaught and swiped at the underside of the beast as it sped past. A few metal-feathers were torn off by her claws, but the large-metal-Bull-bird stayed in the air.

Nalia growled as the metal-bird turned its wind-makers toward the ground as the rest of the beast faced the dragon. She charged at the metal-bird and aimed a swing at the beast's right wing. The metal-bird evaded and fired more small-metal-arrows at the dragon. Ignoring the drain in energy, Nalia used her momentum to swing her tail at one of the wind-makers. That blow connected and the wind-maker started spewing smoke.

The large-metal-Bull-bird turned and flew away from Nalia, wind-makers turning back to their original position. _Cowards!_ Nalia mentally shouted and rushed after the whitelivers. The beast originally flew much faster than Nalia, but with the damaged wind-maker, the fastest dragon alive could keep up with it.

The smoke-spewing-wind-maker huffed out a large smoke cloud then stopped making noise. The large-metal-Bull-bird lost speed and angled toward the ground. Nalia flew up behind it and grabbed the injured wing with her front claws. With a decent amount of effort, she ripped the wing off the beast. The green dragon let go and the large-metal-Bull-bird fell into the forest, sending out a great ball of fire as it crashed.

Nalia admired her handiwork for a second before she felt Ruby's panicked consciousness press against her mind. _I need backup, now!_ she yelled, then the connection was abruptly cut off.

The green dragon turned back in the direction long-tailed-Cerise flew in. Nalia flapped her wings as hard as she could to get to the new-pair as fast as possible. Still, she wasn't fast enough. Another two of the large-metal-Bull-birds were flying away from a blood stained the beach at too-fast-for-a-dragon speeds. She stretched her mind out to find little-Ruby and young-Cerise. Nalia could feel their minds, but they were distant, unfocused. Her partner-of-her-heart-and-mind-Aaron quickly contacted her to find out what was going on. She sent him the memories of the previous minutes, then concentrated on speed.

Nalia doubled her efforts to catch up to the beasts, but they never got closer. Miles separated the dragon and metal-birds. After several minutes of chasing over open ocean, Nalia lost sight of the transports, and the feeling of the minds in them. Once more the dragon roared, but this time in sorrow. She failed to protect her students, and now they were heading to some far-off place in the hands of the black-monster-bird slavers.

Head hung in defeat, Nalia turned around and flew back toward the beach. She couldn't believe she was out flown by a pack of two-legs. On the flight back, she saw something colored in the water. The green dragon flew down for a closer look, in case whatever it was came from the slavers. When she got closer, she saw it was little-Ruby's hood. She carefully grabbed the body-cover out of the water and once again flew toward the bloody beach.

* * *

"Take care of my sister out there, okay," Yang told Nalia. "I only have one, and they don't grow on trees."

Nalia huffed her amusement. _I shall do my best,_ she responded. _I can't say they won't return unharmed. I may have to give them both a mental lashing when we're done._ The green dragon took off and angled north. Yang watched her fly away from just outside the Dragonhouse.

She looked down at Halcyon who stood practically on top of her feet. "That's going to be us in a few weeks." Halcyon looked up at his Rider and chirped. He ran forward a few steps and shook his back in invitation. Yang couldn't help but laugh. "I like the enthusiasm, but I think I'm still a little too big for you." Halcyon's shoulders slumped and his head drooped.

Yang walked over to her dragon and rubbed his head like she would do to mess up Ruby's hair. "Come on, drama queen, let's get back to the room." The two walked across campus, attracting quite a few stares. Halcyon walked with an air of royalty and superiority, kind of like Weiss at the beginning of the school year. Yang rolled her eyes and chuckled at the sight. Somewhere down the road she'd have to break him out of that.

Yang entered the dorm through the main entrance while Halcyon took a short flight to their window. At three days old, he was getting big. He couldn't simply stand on Yang's shoulder anymore; he couldn't hold on without digging claws into her skin. Both of them were very disappointed at the discovery, but accepted it. They knew it wouldn't last long.

The blonde Rider opened the door to her room and saw Weiss already rubbing Halcyon's belly. "Spoiling him, are we?" Yang asked as she closed the door behind her.

"Well, when he rolls over like that, how can't I?" Weiss responded, never taking her eyes off the dragon.

"You never had a pet growing up, did you?" Blake asked, looking over her book.

"No, none that I could call my own anyway."

"Halcyon isn't a pet either," Yang said, a bit more forcefully than intended. "That's what we thought Cerise was at first, but now look at her. She is her own person and has no master."

Weiss shrugged. "Point taken." She looked at the clock on the wall and straightened up. "I suppose we should get ready for class now. We have fifteen minutes."

Yang sighed. "Well looks like Ruby's going to be late then."

Blake set down her book at sent Yang a questioning look. "Why would she be late?"

"Ruby, Cerise, and Nalia are going after a Nervermores transport. Nalia left to give the other two back up when I left the Dragonhouse. They shouldn't be much-"

Yang was cut off by Ruby's mind suddenly burst into her own. _I need backup, now!_ Just as sudden as she was there, she was gone.

The blonde Rider froze in place as she tried to reconnect to Ruby's mind. Try as she might, her mental range just wasn't far enough. The panic Ruby felt…she was scared for her life. Weiss and Blake stared at Yang, equally horrified. Yang shook herself out of her trance, grabbed Ember Celica, and bolted out the door.

Aaron's mind then pressed itself against Yang's. _Main courtyard, now! Bring your weapons._ He didn't have to tell Yang twice. She sprinted through the residence hall, not caring who she ran through along the way. Luckily the doors outside were open, otherwise she would have smashed right through the glass.

Yang kept running across campus until she reached the courtyard. She skidded to a stop and immediately searched around for Aaron. It took her a few seconds, but she saw him running full tilt toward the courtyard from one of the class buildings.

"What's going on?" Yang demanded when Aaron came to a stop in front of her.

After a few seconds of panting, Aaron said, "They have her. Nalia's in pursuit, but they're too fast." Yang froze in place again and her eyes widened. She imagined all the color drained from her face.

"What happened?" Weiss asked making Yang jump. She didn't realize her the rest of her team caught up. Halcyon landed close by and quickly made his way over to Yang.

"Nalia said an armed Bullhead ambushed them over Forever Fall. She fought it off while Ruby and Cerise continued to a Nevermores transport. Nalia took down the Bullhead, and that's when Ruby called for help. By the time she got to the beach, it was too late." Aaron looked sadly at Yang. "She saw a lot of blood on the beach, she believes it belongs to Ruby and Cerise."

Yang clenched both her fists and clenched her eyes as tight as she could. Beside her, Halcyon growled. Even though the golden dragon was only a few days old and didn't even come up to Yang's knees, that growl could have scared the life out of many people. The pure rage his mind put out even scared his Rider.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Blake asked, furious herself. "Let's go find her!"

"I'm not saying we shouldn't do anything," Weiss started, "but how are we going to get anywhere fast enough?"

"One of those Bullheads," Aaron stated. Yang finally opened her eyes and followed Aaron's gaze. Three of the regular transport VTOLs sat on their landing pads, ready to take students wherever in Vale they wanted to go. "We're taking one of those whether their pilots like it or not."

Weiss lead the group there, Aaron and Yang close behind. The blonde Rider looked down at her side to see Halcyon walking beside her, radiating fury and growling the whole way. Yang stopped and Halcyon shot his Rider a questioning glare. "Halcyon," Yang said, "I don't think you should come with." The rage in the hatchling's eyes vanished immediately, and his light growl turned into a whimper. "It's not that I don't want you by my side, but you're too small, too young. You're more likely to get hurt out there than any of us."

Halcyon whimpered again and nuzzled Yang's leg. She bent down to look her dragon in the eyes. "I swear, I _will_ bring our sisters back. The monsters that hurt them will regret ever stepping outside." Halcyon rubbed his face against Yang's and flew back toward team RWBY's dorm room.

Yang stood back up and made her way over to the landing pad. Even from a few dozen feet away, she could tell that Weiss was arguing with the pilot of one of the Bullheads, and it wasn't pretty. Yang clenched her fists, then closed her eyes tightly again. When she opened them, a red haze hung at the edges of her vision.

"I'm sorry, but I'm only authorized to take students to places in Vale," the pilot told Weiss. "I can't take you to Forever Fall unless I get clearance from up top."

Yang forced her way between Aaron and Blake and got up in the pilot's face. "Listen up, moron," she growled. "Our team leader, my _sister's_ life is in danger, so either you fly us where we want to go, or one of us learns to fly this thing in the air, and you'll have to explain to Ozpin how and why you let a bunch of students take your vehicle."

The pilot took a step back, intimidated by Yang's fury. "I-I'm sure I'd get clearance for this eventually. Get on board." He quickly jumped inside the open door and climbed into the cockpit. All present members of team RWBY climbed into the main transport space and grabbed one of the bars above their heads. The transport's engines spun to life and the Bullhead left the landing pad.

While Aaron entered the cockpit, Yang watched the city and then trees roll by beneath them. While she tried to stay solid on the outside, she was falling apart on the inside. _She was supposed to just be out for a flight. It was just another criminal in Vale. How did it turn out like this?_ She couldn't help obsessing over what could have gone differently so that everyone would be in class instead of out searching for her sister.

Yang was so busy in her dejection she didn't notice the Bullhead going in for a landing on a blood soaked beach. She saw Nalia looking up at the Bullhead with big sad eyes. Crescent Rose sat fully extended in front of the green dragon.

The blonde Rider dropped to the ground while the transport was still a dozen feet off the ground and slowly walked over to her sister's beloved weapon. She grabbed it with both hands and held it close. Tears slowly escaped her eyes. Nalia hummed sadly and stretched out one of her large paws, toes up. She opened her 'fist' and Yang's spirits dropped even more. Nalia held Ruby's hood. The green dragon lowered her head to look the blonde in the eyes. _Yang, I am so sorry._

Yang grew angry again. She let go of Crescent Rose with her right hand and threw a strong right hook at Nalia's head. It connected and her head smashed into the beach five feet away from where it started. "You were supposed to protect her! Where the hell were you?"

Nalia lifted her head out of the sand and growled at Yang. _I followed the Nevermores transports miles out to sea. When they get up to speed, there's not a dragon alive can catch them. Anyway, if I didn't escort Ruby and Cerise, they would most likely be dead from that ambush._

"How do you know they aren't?"

Nalia quickly looked at Aaron. Yang followed her gaze and saw the other Rider kneeling by white and gray part of the ocean. The blonde Rider walked over to the spot, gasped and dropped Crescent Rose. It was Ruby. Her arms and legs were bound together, and something was stuffed in her mouth. Her nose sat at an unnatural angle and a large red mark sat on the right side of her face. Blood, dried and fresh, covered her lower face, as well as one spot on her neck.

The image in the water switched over to Cerise. She wasn't in any better condition. Her legs were shackled and her shredded wings bound to her body. Bullet holes and scorch marks covered her once beautiful scales. Unlike Ruby, Cerise was bandaged heavily across her belly.

"If they were dead," Aaron said, "we wouldn't be seeing anything." Yang took a few involuntary steps back and covered her mouth with both hands. Now the tears flowed freely down her face.

A light hand fell on Yang's shoulder. She turned to see an equally distressed Weiss. Still, there was steel in the heiress' gaze. "Yang, they're alive," she said. "We will find them, and we will make these bastards pay."

Yang nodded then wiped her eyes. She walked back over to Nalia, who still had Ruby's hood in her paw. The blonde Rider grabbed her sister's favorite piece of clothing and carefully folded it. Then she looked out over the ocean, to wherever those bastards took her sister. _I'm coming for you Ruby,_ she thought. _I'm bringing you and Cerise home._

* * *

 **Well that one was a doozy. Please don't send an angry/feely mob after me. I will say though I am looking over the rating rules right now to see if I might need to up the rating for the story just because of what I have planned for next chapter. It's...let's say much less than kid friendly and deals with a topic that might be sensitive to some people.  
**

 **For those of you who haven't read Inheritance Cycle, that is roughly how the few dragon POVs are written. Now I realize why there were so few in the series. This might be the only one in this story. Just that little bit was a pain. Also, 'whiteliver' is a medieval way to say 'coward.'  
**


	16. Infiltration

**To address a few reviewers, the way a dragon sees color in Inheritance Cycle is based off the fact that Paolini is colorblind, and wanted the dragons to see a similar set of colors. It is not dependent on the color of their scales. If you find something in the books that contradicts this, however, I will gladly crack an egg on my face.**

 **I will say this chapter has already gone through several revisions, and I eventually decided to cut Ruby's POV, mainly because I wanted to keep the T rating. This will be addressed in a civilized way in the next chapter.  
**

* * *

"If we don't find anything in the next half hour, I'm going to have to turn this thing around and fly back to Vale," the pilot called back.

Yang was on the verge of tears, yet furious at the same time. They had been searching for three hours, and found nothing. Aaron and Nalia split off after the beach while Yang, Blake, and Weiss stayed on the Bullhead. The Riders stretched their minds out as far as they could go, but so far, neither of them found anything. The only living creatures this far out of the city were Grimm or a few animals. The Bullhead passed a couple small villages, but neither held any hostile intent.

The blonde Rider watched the ground fly past beneath her. She knew the stats. If someone is kidnapped and they aren't found in less than forty-eight hours, chances of finding them dropped to almost nothing. That only applied inside the cities and outlying villages. Outside, they could disappear almost in the blink of an eye.

Something came into Yang's mental range. She looked north at a mountain still miles off. Another village sat near the top. It almost made sense, it being in a highly defensible location, but this far out of the kingdoms, it couldn't be incredibly safe.

As she passively scanned the minds of those inside, Yang noticed something was off. Several of the people there were scared out of their minds, but not from Grimm. Two minds out of the entire group were barely noticeable. They were hazy, undefined. But the panic in one of them stuck out like a sore thumb. Yang poked at it a little to see if she could get anything more out of it, but got nothing. She turned her attention to the rest of the people. They weren't scared at all, they were having a good time. That definitely ruled out a Grimm attack.

Yang studied the base emotions of the clear headed ones for several minutes to get any information out of them, then turned her attention back to the hazy head she felt before. She poked at it again, but this time it grabbed on weakly. Yang gasped. She knew that feeling. _Help…_ Ruby thought weakly.

"Ruby!" Yang screamed with her voice and mind. She tried to grab onto her sister's mind, but it slipped out of reach.

"You found her?" Blake asked over the sound of engines and wind.

Yang turned around to see her two teammates staring at her. "I did." She climbed into the cockpit and pointed at the mountain. "She's up there, near the top of the mountain."

The pilot leaned forward in his seat and stared at the mountain. "I'm no expert, but if we fly right toward them, I think they'll see us coming, if they haven't already.," he said. "This Bullhead is meant for simple transportation, not hot drops. I won't be able to get you all the way up there."

The blonde Rider growled. "Were you able to call in any support?"

"Atlas is sending the cruiser _Vytal_ to assist in the search. Based on our last communication, they're still over two hours away from us."

Yang nodded then left the cockpit. She pulled out her scroll and hit Aaron's speed dial. He picked up after two rings. "Find any leads?" he asked.

"I've found Ruby, and she's surrounded by the Nevermores and what I can only guess are more captives."

A roar could be heard from the other side of the link. "We're on our way to you now. Is there anything else?"

"Their base in near the top of a mountain, but we're going to have to get there on foot. We'll be sitting ducks in this Bullhead if we fly right up there."

"Understood. We'll be there as soon as we can." Aaron hung up and Yang put her scroll back in her pocket. The Bullhead turned away from the mountain and started coasting to the trees below. The three teammates jumped out of the transport and drew their weapons. Yang lead the way through the forest, Weiss and Blake flanking her to either side.

Surprisingly, there weren't a lot of Grimm in the area, at first. Only a few Beowolves and Ursai. They were easy to handle with just melee attacks, and not having to worry about the sound of gunshots being heard. Then their numbers grew, and whole packs attacked at once. But every time that happened, the girls walked over their opponent's decaying corpses. Nothing was keeping them from their leader.

An hour and a half later, the three had climbed halfway up the mountain when Yang saw Nalia flying extremely low and fast over the trees. The green dragon angled up and grabbed onto the cliff the girls just passed. Aaron jumped off his dragon's back and drew his sword. Nalia snorted then jumped back into the trees below. "Nice entrance," Yang said, only a hit if her normal tone leaking it.

Aaron shrugged but never stopped walking. "I try, now let's go." He took the lead and continued to hike up the mountain. Yang fell in after him with Weiss and Blake right on her heels. As the group climbed the mountain, the Grimm almost stopped attacking. Still, they never let their guard down. The beasts could be cleared out regularly by the Nevermores.

Eventually, Aaron stopped signaled everyone to get down. _Mental communication from here on out. Weiss, Blake, think what you would normally say._

 _Are we getting close?_ Blake thought.

Yang mentally growled. _They're right over the next hill._ The four crawled up to the top of the hill and looked down at the complex below them. From the air, it would have just looked like an abandoned structure, since several walls and roofs were caved in. From the ground, Yang saw lights in the buildings and several gun barrels sticking out of camouflaged tarps.

Almost the whole way through the climb, Yang tried to break through the haze surrounding Ruby's mind, but nothing worked. The rest of the time she read the thoughts of those she thought to be guards. She mentally noted all that she learned the entire time. _They're prepared for a Grimm attack on our side, not a Huntsman infiltration team. They expect any attack from people to come from the air. Several makeshift and stolen anti-aircraft guns line the cliff edge. Still, it won't be enough to hold back the_ Vytal _when it gets here._

 _Suddenly, I'm glad we walked,_ Weiss thought.

 _How far out is the_ Vytal? Aaron asked.

 _Less than a half hour, I'm sure they'll send fighter support ahead of them._ _Atlas always does._ Yang felt something different from inside the base. Those that appeared to be in the same room as Ruby started worrying at the same time. There was one man in the room, but Yang couldn't place his thoughts. _But but I don't think we can wait that long._

Aaron's eyes narrowed at the building below them. _I feel it too, and I don't like it._ He whipped his head around and looked back the way they came. _There's also a patrol heading this way in five minutes. We need to move._

 _How can we assault that place?_ Weiss asked in disbelief. _There's only four of us._

 _You can't fight with honor against those who have none,_ Aaron said. _We don't attack head on, we infiltrate and do what damage we can._

Yang looked at the more experienced Rider with a questioning look. _Has he done something like this before?_ she thought to herself.

 _I've noticed something while scanning their minds. There's a gap in their defenses by the tree line on the other side of the building. Our entry point is a door on that side._ Aaron slowly crawled backward down the hill and retreated to the forest. Yang and the others followed suit. The blonde Rider looked back at her teammates while in the tree cover. They both wore expressions of doubt, the first time Yang ever saw it on either of them.

 _We got this,_ she thought at them. _We'll get Ruby out of there, we have to._ Yang turned back front before she saw their reactions. The group snuck through the tree line as quickly as they could. Aaron picked up the pace when all prisoners besides Ruby felt another pang of fear. Yang pushed herself past the other Rider, wanting to get to her sister before something bad happened.

The team stopped across from a weak looking door on the building. _Though I can't hold you to this,_ Aaron thought, _I'd prefer everyone use non-lethal force against these people._

Yang turned on Aaron, growing slightly angry. _And why should we?_

Aaron turned to the blonde. _Give them a taste of their own medicine. Let them rot in jail._ There was something else behind Aaron's reason, but Yang couldn't tell what it was. _Yang, the quickest way for us to do that is to put them to sleep with magic. The word is slytha._ The blonde Rider nodded then looked back toward the door.

Two guards walked on by, paying more attention to something on one of their scrolls than their surroundings. They continued around the building, and there was no one else in sight.

 _Now!_ Aaron mentally yelled. The four jumped out of their cover and ran for the door. The older Rider whispered something and the door swung open on its own. Yang rushed in first and looked down both hallways she found herself standing in. Weiss was the last in and closed the door behind her. _Weiss, Blake, we're going to the command center._ He turned to Yang. _Good luck._

Yang nodded. It was a good thing Aaron knew there was no way she wasn't after Ruby. She sprinted through the halls in the general direction of her sister. Only one person blocked her path, an aging man in a blood stained lab coat. They stood a few feet apart from each other for a few seconds before Yang put the man to sleep. She stuffed the now snoring man into a supply closet, then continued toward Ruby.

She turned a corner and saw an empty doorway down the hall. Most of the prisoners, including Ruby, were on the other side. The one man was still inside, and Yang still couldn't place his emotions. A gust of wind blew down the hall, nearly knocking Yang off her feet. Someone's Semblance? Why would that be used inside? She approached the room cautiously, not knowing what the unknown man inside was capable of.

Yang stepped through the doorway and gasped. Ruby was chained to the wall, slightly elevated off the ground. Her facial injuries now included a massive left black eye. A dog's ear stuck out of her hair on the right side of her head, dried blood running down through her eye to her mouth. Her hair around her new ear had much more red than before. A massive red gash ran the length of her right arm. A fresh cut under her right arm oozed blood from just under her armpit to just above her hip.

A man with a bloody sword stood a few feet away from Ruby. "I will admit, you surprised me," he growled. "But I don't think you can survive three doses. No one ever has. Don't make me go there."

Ruby looked up from the floor and locked her swollen and teary eyes with Yang's. She whimpered into the bloody cloth in her mouth. The man stared at Ruby, then turned to look at the doorway. He blinked several times when he saw someone standing in the doorway.

Yang clenched her fists and blinked once. Red haze filled her vision. _Silence be damned. This bastard is going to pay._ She fired Ember Celica behind her and launched herself at the man. He tried to move out of the way, but Yang was too fast. She punched him right in the gut and sent him into the concrete wall. His sword clattered to the floor by another one of the prisoners in the room. He fell to the floor and didn't get up right away. Yang wasn't even close to being done. She picked the man up and threw him at and through the wall on the opposite side of the room. Again, he didn't get up. The blonde Rider stalked over to the man, ready to deliver the final blow.

She heard another whimper behind her. Yang whipped her head around and looked at her sister hanging on the wall. Ruby slowly shook her head from side to side, her eyes pleading. The red haze thinned in Yang's eyes, but didn't disappear completely. She lowered her arms and walked over to her sister.

The chained up girl looked to sigh, then started screaming, as did all the other hostages in the room. Yang looked around, startled. She heard a faint electrical crackling. She turned back to the man on the floor and saw he had a scroll out with a big red button on the screen.

Yang ran over to the man and grabbed his neck with one hand. She hauled him to his feet and held her other hand a few inches from his face. "If _one person_ dies in there, so do you! Turn it off!"

"Can't," the man said, almost laughing through the choke hold. "Only my boys in the command center can turn it off." Just as he finished speaking, the screaming stopped. The man's cockiness disappeared instantly.

Yang merely smirked. "Good thing my girls control it." She reeled her head back, then slammed it forward into the apparent boss' nose. Yang released his neck and he fell to the floor unconscious.

The blonde blinked a few times to clear her eyes of the red haze. She then turned back to look at her sister. Ruby hung limply in her chains, but alive. Yang quickly ran back to her sister and quickly untied the gag in her mouth. "Yaaaa…" Ruby said weakly.

"I'm getting you out of here Ruby," Yang said, then turned her attention to the chains. She may not have had a key for the shackles, or the right magic words to break it, but she did have her strength. Yang wrapped her fingers around two links in the chain and pulled in opposite directions. No matter how hard she pulled though, the metal wouldn't break.

"Jierda," Yang heard a voice behind her say. The chain didn't break, but the shackle holding Ruby's injured arm in place did. It slumped forward and hung limply. Yang turned around and saw Aaron standing in the doorway with an arm out stretched. "You got that, right?" he asked the blonde Rider.

Yang nodded then turned to Ruby's other hand. "Jierda," she said and the shackle fractured. Now unsupported, Ruby fell forward into her sister's arms. Yang broke the shackles on Ruby's legs and carried her away from the wall.

"Set her down here," Aaron said, crumpling up his jacket and setting it down on the floor. Yang complied, gently setting her injured sister on the ground with her head on the makeshift pillow. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than being chained to a wall.

"What happened to Weiss and Blake?" she asked.

Aaron looked over the bleeding gash on Ruby's side and quickly sealed it. "They're in the command center. The alarm wasn't raised, most of the base doesn't know we're here. Weiss was working on hacking the automated defenses when I left." He looked up at Yang. "I'll take care of Ruby, you free the others."

Yang nodded hesitantly. She did fire a few shots, and Ember Celica wasn't exactly quiet. She shook her head then looked around the room. Twelve Faunus were chained up around the room, all of them held similar injuries. She quickly walked over to left end of the room and knelt down before an extremely young lion Faunus. Yang quickly broke the child's shackles and took the gag out of her mouth. The blonde continued down the line as quickly as she could.

Yang was on the third Faunus when she heard loud engines pass above the building. The alarm sounded, yet Aaron smiled. "The cavalry has arrived."

"Why would Weiss or Blake raise the alarm? Won't that give us away?"

"If the military showed up and the alarm wasn't raised, some people might get suspicious." Aaron turned back to Ruby and held a hand over her neck. Yang continued around the room, breaking even more chains and setting prisoners free. Soon gunshots could be heard outside along with a dragon's roar, but both Riders kept their attention on their tasks.

As soon as the last child was free and on her feet, Yang rushed to her sister's side and grabbed her hand. Ruby turned her head and smiled weakly up at Yang. Her nose sat it it's correct position again. No blood covered any portion of her face. Her black eye no longer existed. But the dog ear still stuck out of her hair, and her eyes were still clouded.

"Ruby," Aaron said, "I'm going to put you to sleep and take the ear off. You'll be out for a few minutes at most, I'll wake you up when I'm finished. Do you understand?" Ruby slowly blinked once and Aaron nodded. "Slytha." The girl's eyes closed slowly and her head lolled to the side.

"Is there anything we could do?" a sheepish voice asked behind Yang. She turned around and saw that a rabbit Faunus had stepped forward. The girl looked to be the oldest of the group.

Yang berated herself for ignoring the other hostages. "Right now, if Atlas soldiers come through that door, tell them we aren't hostile." She looked over the large group of kids and looked over their various injuries. "I can help with cuts and bruises, but anything other than that you'll have to wait for Aaron or Atlas."

No one moved for several seconds, then the first girl Yang freed stepped forward clutching her left wrist. She let go of it and Yang saw a nasty cut mark running across. "Can you fix it?" she whispered.

Yang smiled and nodded. "I can." She stuck out her right hand and said, "Waíse heill." The red mark slowly closed and relief showed on the girl's face. "Is there anything else wrong?"

The girl shook her head then slowly hugged Yang. "Thank you for coming."

Yang returned the hug and said, "You're welcome." She continued the process for the next three kids, and each one drained her energy, and she was running on empty after all the chains. She tried to go onto a fifth when Aaron put a hand on her shoulder.

"Take a break," he said. "Ruby's awake, and I'm sure she wants you to talk to her." Yang sighed in relief then turned back to Ruby. Sure enough her eyes were open and staring at her sister. Physically, she looked perfectly fine. However, her eyes were still foggy and unfocused. Her mind was in the same condition.

"Ruby, why do you have to be so selfless?" Yang asked in a joking yet concerned voice. Ruby forced out a laugh twice but otherwise stayed silent. Yang grew worried again. "What's the matter, can't you talk?"

Ruby shook her head. "P…psssssnn."

"Poison?" Yang asked. Her sister blinked once, most likely meaning yes.

Even through the fog, Yang saw worry creep into Ruby's eyes. "Ceerreeessse?"

Yang's breath caught in her throat. She completely forgot about her sister's dragon after seeing Ruby chained up. The blonde Rider stretched out her mind to look for the other hazy mind. "I believe she's two rooms down." Yang looked at the wall between her and the red dragon. "She's alive, but her mind is just as clouded as yours."

Just as she stood up, Yang heard several armored footfalls out in the hall. She turned to the door, ready to fight those who would come in. Almost as an afterthought, she stretched her mind out to the people in the halls. She calmed down when she found out they were Atlas soldiers.

Several armored men burst into the room and quickly pointed their weapons at Yang. She held up her hands and pointed her gauntlets at the ceiling. "Whoa, whoa! I'm a friendly! We're all friendlies!" The soldiers kept their weapons trained for a few more seconds, then stood down.

"Sergeant, you might want to take a look at this," a soldier in the hall called. He was kneeling by the unconscious man that Yang head-butted. One of the other soldiers in the room walked to the hall and looked at the man.

"Tiger one to _Vytal_ actual," the sergeant said into his communicator, "we've made contact with an infiltration team, and we have one of the O'Donnells in custody. There are also a large number of hostages in here. Requesting orders." He stayed silent for a few seconds. "Copy that, proceeding to new objective."

The soldier turned back to those in the room. "Listen up, command doesn't want any of you leaving this room until the facility is cleared. After that, you'll be escorted outside to transports that will take you to the _Vytal._ Four, Five, stay and guard this room."

"Yes sir!" two of the soldiers said in unison.

"The rest of you, with me." All but two of the soldiers filed out of the room. One of them grabbed O'Donnell and slapped some cuffs around his wrists.

Yang sighed and knelt back down next to Ruby. "Well, it looks like we're safe now," the older sister said. "Those soldiers are heading right for Cerise. She'll be fine." Ruby sighed and her shoulders relaxed. "We found your hood and Crescent Rose by the way. They're back on the Bullhead we came in." That elicited yet another sigh of relief from the girl.

Yang opened her mouth again, but closed it and just looked at her baby sister. She nearly lost Ruby. Ruby was in such a bad condition. There wasn't much worse it could have been. Yet here she was, almost smiling despite what happened to here. How? How could Ruby do this? Yang's eyes teared up as she brushed Ruby's bangs away from her face. She leaned forward and kissed Ruby on the forehead. "I love you so much, Ruby." Yang pulled a hand back tapped Ruby's cheek with a palm in the softest slap she could manage. "But don't you _dare_ scare me like that ever again. You hear me?"

The corners of Ruby's lips curled up. "Llllllvvvv yyyyyyyyyy tttttttoooo."

The over the next fifteen minutes Yang explained to Ruby in detail of the search for her. She almost broke down several times in her explanation, and Ruby listened intently the whole time. When Yang finished, the younger sister slowly moved one of her hands to cover one of Yang's. Ruby smiled weakly again and gratitude shone through the haze in her eyes.

"Time to move out people!" one of the guards called. "Stick together and we'll get you out of here."

"Can you help me out a little, Ruby?" Yang asked her sister. Ruby sat up a little and bent her legs. The older sister stuck her arms under the new holes and picked Ruby up. Aaron was one of the first ones out of the prison, holding the hand of the young lion Faunus girl. Yang and Ruby were the last out of the room. One of the soldiers carried the unconscious hostage taker over his shoulder.

Over the walk, Ruby practically melted into Yang's arms. The older sister wanted to smile at the sight, but she couldn't. Not until Ruby was on the _Vytal._ Not until her little sister could speak again. Not until her mind was cleared of the fog.

As expected, the group made it outside without meeting any resistance. An Atlesian cruiser hung in the air over the facility. Several Bullheads and other transports sat around the courtyard. Yang looked to her left and saw Cerise on a large transport pallet being moved by several soldiers. She turned so Ruby could see her dragon.

Ruby gasped in Yang's arms when she saw her dragon. Cerise looked over and lifted her head slightly. She hummed deeply and blinked her eyes slowly. Out of the corner of her eye, Yang saw Aaron start running toward the red dragon. "I told you she'd be alright Ruby," Yang whispered to her sister.

Two gunshots came from inside the building. All the soldiers in the courtyard pointed their guns at the source. Yang whipped her head around to see what all the commotion was about.

The man in the lab coat she put to sleep earlier stood in the doorway, a pistol and two soldiers with bullet holes through their helmets lay on the ground next to him, and a rocket launcher in hand. He lifted it up, and aimed it straight at Yang.

She saw what was coming and perpendicular to where the rocket was aiming., but carrying Ruby slowed her down. The rocket toting man fired before he was gunned down by several dozen soldiers. Yang felt the explosion behind her and was sent flying. She lost her grip on Ruby somewhere in the air. Yang landed in a heap, but her Aura protected her from the worst injury. She looked around frantically for Ruby. When Yang saw her sister, her heart skipped a beat. _No!_

The entire right side of Ruby's body was shredded, from her feet to her head.

* * *

 **After Vol III Chap 11, I'm not sure if this is rubbing salt in the wound or setting it on fire. For the record, I had this typed up before Yang was disarmed. Now, I'm going to go hide from the mob of people carrying torches and pitchfork/guns that's currently after me.**


	17. Recovery

**Well the last chapter got the response I expected, the first review being a resounding F U. Looking back, having Ruby be shredded after all that might have been a little much, but I figured having all of it happening at one time would be better than having her in a similar situation later. Also, writing that last chapter physically** _ **hurt.**_ **I literally got chest pain while typing it up. I do** _ **not**_ **want the same thing to happen to anyone in the show (or real life), especially sweet, innocent Ruby. I nearly cried when Yang lost an arm (oh sorry, spoilers).**

 **Now, to get people slightly off my back, let's get going.**

* * *

Yang lay on her stomach while looking at her sister. She couldn't believe it. Ruby was healed. She was outside of that prison, heading to a transport to take her to the _Vytal_ where she'd be safe. Now, she bleeding out on the ground.

Aaron sprinted across the yard then slid to a stop on his knees. He immediately started chanting in the Ancient Language to heal the young Rider. Yang saw several injuries heal up through her sister's torn clothing, but there was so much. She took her gaze off her sister for a second to look at Cerise. Nalia was physically holding the much smaller dragon back. Cerise released an anguished roar and tried to throw Nalia off, but without success.

Yang looked back to her sister and saw two medics carrying a stretcher between them. Aaron stood up and pointed a hand down at Ruby. He said something and the red Rider floated off the ground slowly, in the same position as when she lay on the ground. The medics gaped at the sight, but held their position. Ruby gently floated down onto the stretcher, and the medics carried her off to one of the transports. Yang finally found her legs and rushed off after her sister.

 _Yang, don't,_ Nalia called.

The blonde Rider turned on the green dragon, still running toward her sister. "Why shouldn't I?" she yelled, not caring who heard.

Nalia's wings and head drooped. _You'll only get in the way. I know you want to help, but what can you do? You're already weakened and you can only heal superficial wounds right now._ Yang slowed to a halt, then looked back at Ruby, the medics, and Aaron piling into a transport. As much as she didn't want to believe it, Nalia was right. She couldn't do anything to help her sister now. It was all up to Aaron and the doctors on the _Vytal._

Yang stretched her mind out toward her sister's, even though Ruby might not hear. _I'm not leaving you, so please don't leave me._ The transport flew off, and she didn't get a response.

"Yang!" she heard Weiss call behind her. Yang didn't turn around, she just followed Ruby's transport as it flew up toward the cruiser. "Where's Ruby?"

Now Yang turned around to face her other teammates. Both Weiss and Blake wore looks of concern. "She's on her way to the _Vytal,_ " she managed to say through a constricted throat.

Both teammates stopped breathing for a second while their eyes lit up with worry. "What happened?" Blake finally said.

Yang growled and looked at the dead man in a lab coat. "That son of a bitch had a rocket launcher. I don't know what kind of Dust it had, but it burnt and…shredded Ruby." Yang's head dipped. "My Aura barely held."

Nobody spoke for a few seconds. "Please tell me she's alive," Weiss whispered.

Cerise slowly came into Yang's vision, limping and growling at the man in the lab coat. "If she wasn't, I don't think Cerise would be so calm right now." Cerise stalked over to the dead man. She stuck her claws into the corpse and flung it into another one of the buildings in the facility. She roared weakly at where the corpse landed, then collapsed on the ground.

"You call that calm?" Weiss scoffed, a little fear sneaking into her voice.

"Considering that he nearly killed her Rider, yes." While Yang knew she didn't know how much Halcyon really meant to her yet, remembering how Cerise and Ruby interacted since the forest gave her a good idea. They were more than just friends, more than family. Right now, Yang had a hard time seeing Halcyon as much more than a pet, despite her earlier protests. She hoped that would change soon. Still, she did not envy the situation Cerise was currently in, for multiple reasons.

Another Bullhead flew over the yard and set down in about the same spot that Ruby's transport took off from. Yang straightened up a little when she saw Beacon's symbol painted on the side. A familiar pilot stepped out the open side door. "You three coming or what?"

The pilot climbed back into the cockpit as the members of team RWBY still on the ground ran toward their transport. They were barely inside when the Bullhead lifted off the ground and started flying toward the _Vytal._ It was a short flight, but it might as well have been hours for Yang. She knew in the back of her head Ruby was in good hands, but not being there to help made her feel useless.

The Bullhead flew up to the side of the _Vytal_ and hovered there. Several other transports and fighters flew in and out. Even when there was a lull, their Bullhead stayed in place. Yang heard the pilot speaking on the radio with the _Vytal._ In the back of her head, she knew that the civilian pilot had to get clearance to land in a military vessel. Everything else scremed bullshit. Her sister was in trouble and they still needed to go through all that crap? Ruby needed her...even though she couldn't do anything.

Finally, the Bullhead rose up and glided into the hangar on the _Vytal._ Weiss and Blake stepped out while Yang retrieved Ruby's hood and Crescent Rose from a storage compartment. She wrapped the weapon in the hood in an attempt to conceal it in case the soldiers took away their weapons. Ruby always felt safer with her scythe nearby.

"Are you the rest of team RWBY?" someone asked. Yang turned around to see a uniformed soldier standing a few feet in front of Weiss and Blake.

"We are," Weiss said with authority.

The soldier nodded. "First officer Jet Bradford. Welcome to the _Vytal._ You will wait in a conference room until your team leader is out of surgery. Please follow me." Bradford turned on a heel and started walking out of the hanger. The girls followed closely.

After a few hallways of silence, Yang asked what was on all their minds. "So how's Ruby?"

Bradford turned his head slightly, then stared back forward again. "From what we can tell, that rocket had a combined Burn Dust and shrapnel payload. The entire right side of her body had second or third degree burns, with many pieces of metal cutting in all over, particularly on her leg and arm." He threw a sideways glance at all. "It's a miracle either of you survived." Yang lowered her gaze to the floor, she didn't feel lucky, and she doubted Ruby did either. Still, almost anything beat being dead.

The first officer opened a door and ushered the girls into the room. "Someone will be in here shortly to debrief you. If there are any updates on your team leader, you three will be the first to know." Bradford closed the door to the conference room, leaving Yang, Blake, and Weiss alone.

They all took seats around the table. Yang fought to keep her emotions under control, but she couldn't keep a few tears from escaping her eyes. "Yang, can you get anything out of Ruby?" Blake asked.

Yang shook her head. "I've been trying since we've stepped onto the ship. Her head's just too clouded. Maybe Aaron or Cerise could see through it, but I can't." She paused for a second. "How much do you two know about what happened to Ruby?"

"There were only a handful of security cameras around the base," Blake said, "one of them was in the prison."

"We saw the footage just as you threw that man through the wall," Weiss said, then shivered. "I don't understand how anyone can be so cruel to another person."

"They're the worst of humanity, the ones who get all the attention," Blake stated, with more than a little hate in her voice. "People like that are the reason…" she let that statement hang. Both her teammates knew what she was talking about, and neither had any rebuttals.

An hour passed with no one really talking. The most action the room saw was Weiss occasionally pacing the length of the table. Eventually though, the door opened and Aaron stepped into the room. He was immediately mobbed those around the table. "How's Ruby?" Yang blurted out.

Aaron sighed and looked at the girls with sad eyes. "You're all going to want to sit down." Yang couldn't breathe until she sat down in the nearest chair. When someone opened with that, the news was never good. "The doctors determined what Ruby was poisoned with. Concentrated King Taijitu venom. It was enough to make her Aura ineffective, inhibit her mind, and dulled all her senses except pain. Luckily the doctors had the antidote on hand. The venom's effects should be completely gone in a few hours."

Yang breathed a sigh of relief. At least that was going right. Still, that couldn't be everything. She was about to ask further, but Weiss beat her to it. "Why do I hear a 'but' coming?"

Aaron hesitated before speaking again. "There is only so much magic, and technology here can do. Some more experience healers would have been able to do more, but I'm not them. What the doctors here have couldn't do what was needed either. She was losing too much blood. We had to amputate them both." Yang felt her heart drop into her stomach. "To make things worse, a piece of metal embedded itself in Ruby's right eye. Luckily, it didn't go farther than that."

Yang held her head in her hands. "So Ruby is now missing two limbs and an eye?"

"Unfortunately, yes. When we were leaving the…operation room, one of the doctors said that they'll work on…machining her a new arm and leg right away."

"Ruby would take the bionics better than the rest of us," Blake commented.

"Yeah," Yang sighed. "She'll probably have a firearm built into at least one of them in a week."

"Probably?" Weiss scoffed. "Have you met your sister? I'd be surprised if it takes her three days." All four teammates shared a quick and quiet chuckle.

"They said they could do the same for an eye," Aaron continued, "but I asked them to hold off for a while."

Yang turned on the newest member of the team. "Why would you do that?" Her anger started to rise yet again, but the red haze didn't come back.

"I can regrow her eye."

Yang straightened in her chair. "You can what?"

"Most other body parts grow with age. Human eyes stay the same size through life. That makes it one of the easiest parts to regrow, despite the complexities inside. That's actually the last thing I was taught before Nalia and I were sent out."

"Why haven't you 'regrown' it then?" Blake asked, almost demanding.

"Like the three of you said, she likes this stuff. I figured I'd give her the option." Yang nodded then stared at the floor, trying to come to terms with her sister's condition. "Right now, Ruby has a private room in the…medbay. I've been told that you'll be taken there after you're debriefed."

Aaron paused. "I'd stay longer, but I need to check on Cerise. The doctors here have no idea what they're doing with her." He left the room without saying another word.

Yang stayed hunched over for several minutes. Eventually she felt a hand fall on her shoulder. "Yang, Ruby will be fine," Blake soothed.

"She's strong," Weiss said. "She won't let this get her down."

Yang sighed. "Here's hoping." The door opened again and a uniformed soldier walked in. "Well, let's get this over with."

* * *

Ruby slowly opened her eyes, then closed them almost immediately. The room was too bright for that time in the morning. The fact she had a massive headache didn't help either. She turned onto her left side and opened her eyes again, and her breath caught in her throat. Yang, Weiss and Blake were sitting on a few chairs directly across from her. The problem was, the room wasn't her dorm room, or the Dragonhouse.

Weiss looked up from her lap and locked eyes with Ruby. She blinked several times then elbowed both her other teammates, who apparently were asleep. Yang groaned awake and her eyes met Ruby's. She practically exploded out of her chair. "You're awake!" Yang gave her sister an awkward hug with Ruby still staying on the bed.

"Yes, I'm awake," Ruby mumbled. "What's so special about today? And where are we?"

Yang pulled her chair closer to Ruby's bed and sat back down. "We're on the Atlas cruiser _Vytal,_ and I believe we're still above where you were being held."

Ruby messed up her face while she looked at her sister. "What?" Then the memories hit her. The smell, the chains, the sword. Her heart beat faster and she whipped her head around the room. She jerked her right hand up to her head to feel for the ear that was stapled on.

She didn't feel anything on her head. Then again, she didn't feel her arm at all. Ruby looked at her arm, or rather where her arm should be. The only part of her right arm there was a little stub past her shoulder. Her breath caught in her throat. She tried to sit up using her legs to push herself up, but only one leg responded. Fear started building up in her as she lifted her blankets with her remaining arm. Sure enough, her right leg didn't even extend to a knee.

Panicking now, Ruby blinked her eyes several times, but she only felt one eyelid moving. She moved her hand up to her right eye, and traced around any eyepatch. "There's nothing behind here, is there?" she whispered. Her teammates just shook their heads, their own eyes tearing up. Another thought struck her. "Cerise!" she said with her voice and mind.

 _Ruby!_ came Cerise' immediate reply. Just the one word carried so much concern and happiness. _Are you alright? I haven't seen you since the beach!_

 _I'm fine,_ Ruby said, and she let out most of her tension as she stared at the white ceiling. _Well, I'm alive. I'm missing an arm, a leg, and an eye._

Rage mixed in with Cerise' concern. _Those kidnappers are lucky_ _they have soldiers guarding them, or else I would tear them limb from limb for what they did to you!_

Ruby turned her head in the rough direction she felt her dragon. _Cerise! Where is this coming from?_

 _They stole your limbs. They nearly **killed** you! I have every right to do the same._

Ruby couldn't believe what her dragon was saying. _But they didn't. I'm alive. We don't kill people, especially for revenge._

Cerise huffed over their mental link. _What did you do when you found me on the cliff?_

 _That's different! Grimm are pure evil._

 _Those men aren't?!_ Cerise rage was growing by the second.

Ruby backed away slightly on her bed. _Cerise, please stop! You're scaring me!_

Ruby felt Cerise trying to calm herself down, through no small effort. _I'm sorry, but you'll need to live with the notion of killing in the future. You want to be a Huntress and help people. You **are** a Rider. There will be situations when you will have to take a life to save others._

 _But that's not now, and never for revenge._

Cerise huffed one more time. _When it comes to your safety, I make no promises._ She pulled away from a direct conversation, but stayed in her Rider's mind to be with each other. That connection was enough for the moment.

Ruby was so focused on talking to Cerise, she didn't hear someone sobbing next to her. She turned her head and saw Yang in tears. "Ruby, I'm sorry," she said. "I tried to get you out of there, I tried to protect you from the blast, but I couldn't. It's my-"

"Thank you," Ruby interrupted.

Yang looked at Ruby in shock. Weiss and Blake wore similar expressions from where they sat. "What?" Yang asked.

"You got me out of that place. I'd rather be like this among family than down there with those…monsters." Ruby shivered involuntarily.

"We're here too, Ruby," Weiss said, tilting her head toward Blake.

Ruby turned her head and smiled at her partner. "I said family, didn't I?" Weiss blinked in surprise, then smiled and nodded. The young Rider turned back to her sister. "Could you help me sit up?"

"Sure thing." Yang stood up and hooked her arms through Ruby's. She hoisted her sister up and leaned her back against the wall. "They're machining a new arm and leg for you right now. Both should be done in less than an hour."

"What about my eye?"

Yang hesitated. "Aaron said he could regrow your eye."

Ruby forgot to breathe for a second. "He can do that? Why hasn't he?"

Blake spoke up this time. "He said he wanted to give you a choice since you like technology so much."

Ruby nodded and started to think it over. _Cerise, what do you think I should do?_

 _It's your decision, Ruby,_ Cerise said. _I can't make this one for you._

 _You're no help,_ Ruby teased, then thought it over some more. In the end she shook her head. "I won't take what so many others don't get. I'll take the fake eye." Weiss nodded, then took out her scroll and pressed a few buttons on the screen. She hesitated for a few seconds, pressed one more button then placed her scroll on her lap. The heiress nodded at Yang.

"Ruby," Yang started, "what did they do to you in there?"

The young Rider froze up, then looked at the scroll on Weiss' lap. "You're recording this?" Ruby asked weakly.

Weiss slowly nodded. "Atlas wants testimony to use against the Nevermores. They figured you'd talk to us more than you'd talk to them."

"After this, you never have to speak about it again," Blake added.

Ruby hugged herself with her one arm and her eye started tearing up. The memories were coming back fast. They were hazy, and painful, but clear enough to know what was happening. Yang sat on the edge of the bed and wrapped an arm around her sister. Cerise surrounded Ruby's mind with her own.

"How long did they have me?" Ruby asked.

"About five hours," Yang said. "We left Beacon as soon as we heard your call for help. The _Vytal_ joined in the search about halfway through."

Ruby nodded, then began her story. "Me and Cerise split up from Nalia after a Bullhead came up behind us. We found a few other Bullheads on the beach and saw people loading Faunus into the Bullheads. One of them saw us, and then everyone started shooting at us." Ruby paused for a second. "Dragon scales don't do anything to stop Dust rounds. We were shot out of the sky in seconds.

"We crashed on the beach, and were surrounded. They…electrocuted me, and hit my head with the butt of a rifle. They poked something into my neck, then everything gets hazy."

"King Taijitu venom," Yang said, a bit of her own venom sneaking into her voice.

"After that, they knocked me out, and I woke up in that…prison. A man came in later. I'm not sure exactly what he said, but it was something along the lines I was…going to be sold to the highest bidder." Yang's arm tightened around Ruby, and Weiss and Blake stiffened in their seats. Cerise hummed sadly in her Rider's mind. "That's not all. They were going to harvest Cerise for her scales, and if they weren't profitable…" Ruby shivered and lowered her head, "…if they weren't profitable they'd skin Cerise and sell it instead."

Cerise forced herself fully into Ruby's mind. _But they didn't,_ she said. _They didn't have the chance to touch one scale. Not one of them had the guts to come close._

 _Then how'd they get you to that place?_ Ruby shot back.

 _They got the venom in me to. It wore off quickly though. I wouldn't let them get close._

"You haven't said how you got the cut on your arm and side," Yang said, "or the ear."

Ruby brought her attention back into the room. She tried to figure out how to tell her team what happened without revealing exactly how. Her throat constricted and she couldn't talk. She shook her head and looked at her lap. Yang pulled her closer and kissed the side of her head. "I think that's enough for a conviction. Say the word, we're done."

"And if it's not?" Ruby choked out. "After the man said that he was going to…skin Cerise, I managed to kick him. He didn't like that, and he used a sword to cut my arm. He tightened the chains after that." Ruby shook her head from side to side, trying to say 'it didn't happen like that.' Yang held up her hand with her gedwëy ignasia, and Ruby nodded.

"Before the ear, he said something to me." Ruby hugged herself even tighter and leaned into Yang. Tears streamed down her face. She also clung onto Cerise mind as hard as she could. "He said if I resisted, he would send me home...picce by piece."

Yang quickly wrapped her other arm around Ruby. A dragon's roar could be heard through who knew how many bulkheads. _He said **what?**_ Cerise screamed.

"It's okay, sis. You're here, and he won't be going anywhere for a long time." Yang rubbed Ruby's back as she spoke.

"I thought he was going to cut off my arm there." Ruby buried her face in Yang's shoulder.

"We're all here, Ruby. No one's going to hurt you." Yang pulled one arm away and wiped some of her own tears off her face. "What happened next?"

"Another man in a bloody lab coat came in with a metal box," Ruby continued. Yang tensed up at that part. "He took the ear out of the box, along with a staple gun."

"Please tell me they at least knocked you out for that," Blake said, horrified.

"Their sedative was a punch to the face, on the other side." Ruby shuddered as she felt the staples entering her head again.

"The cut on my side came right before Yang got there. It was the same guy as before. He was going to get another prisoner out of her chains. Apparently she was…sold. I was somehow able to get the gag out of my mouth, and I started yelling everything I could at him. He put the gag back in place and did something with the chains. Then he cut me again."

"I take it that guy was the same one I threw through the wall?" Yang asked. Ruby just nodded. "Then why'd you stop me from going further on him?" Hate flowed through her words.

Ruby froze up in Yang's arm. "What do you mean?"

Yang blinked and her eyes turned red. "Why didn't you want me to put him in his place?"

Ruby looked up at Yang terrified. First Cerise now her? "It isn't you, Yang. He was already down." Ruby switched to mental communication and only spoke to her sister. _I didn't want to see you become a killer._ Yang's eyes returned to normal and her jaw dipped her head and turned away.

Weiss picked up her scroll and stopped the recording. "It sounds like you went to hell and back," she said.

"Now you know why I'd rather be here than there," Ruby mumbled.

Yang looked back to where her chair originally was and picked something up off the ground. "Nalia found these while looking for you." Ruby's eyes widened at the sight. Crescent Rose sat in its travel form on top of her folded hood. "I'd help you put it on, but the doctors would just take it off for your next operation anyway."

"Where'd she find them?" Ruby's eyes were glued to the small red box on her hood, trying to find any damage.

"Crescent Rose was on the beach, and I believe she said your hood was in the ocean."

Ruby nodded, then looked around the room. "Where is Aaron anyway?"

"He's checking on the other Faunus," Blake said. "He hasn't stopped working since he got in the ship. I believe he might also be working on repairing your clothes."

"I think his exact wording was 'attempt' to repair," Yang said with a little chuckle. The door to the room opened and a doctor stepped in. "Well, looks like it's time, Ruby."

"Don't go too far," Ruby said as Yang helped her lay back down. "I may need help walking out of here."

"We'll be as close as they allow us," Weiss soothed. The three teammates stood up and brought their chairs with them out the door.

Before Yang left, she turned back and smiled at her sister. "You're going to make metal look good." With that, she left the room, leaving Ruby with the doctor. Shortly afterward, another doctor pushed in a cart with the new body parts on top.

"Okay Miss Rose," the first doctor said. "This operation should only last a couple of hours. When you wake up, you will have full control over your new arm, leg, and eye." He picked up a syringe off the cart, most likely containing anesthetic.

Ruby sighed as the doctor walked over to her side. "Let's get this over with." The doctor stuck the needle into Ruby's arm, and everything turned black.

* * *

Aaron followed a soldier down the halls of the _Vytal,_ trying to keep his exhaustion out of his face and walk. He was slowly approaching a full day of activity, and several hours of magic use to help with injuries on soldiers and Faunus alike. Still, he couldn't rest until everyone was back in Vale, safe from the horrors they endured.

The soldier turned around and pointed down a hallway. Aaron looked down the hall and saw three members of his team sitting in the hall, Weiss and Yang looked like they were asleep. He walked slowly over to the girls, trying not to wake the two up. Blake looked up and locked eyes with Aaron. "How is she?" he asked.

As Blake's mouth opened, Yang snapped her eyes open and looked at Aaron. "She's taking it a lot better than I thought she would," she said. "I can't get anything out of her now though. Must be the anesthetic."

Aaron raised an eyebrow at Yang. "Ana what?"

She thought it over for a few seconds. "Best way I can describe it is sleep juice. Knocks you out for surgery and prevents pain. It shuts down the brain's functions except those needed to live." Yang looked at the door directly in front of her. "Which it probably why I'm not getting anything out of her right now."

Aaron sent his mind into the room and searched for Ruby's mind. It was easier to latch on to than before, but there was almost nothing going on in there. "That's not natural," he said.

Yang huffed in amusement. "In case you haven't noticed a lot of the stuff we use isn't natural." She focused back on the door in front of her.

Blake shifted in her seat. "I don't think that she's in the best place mentally," she said. "No one comes out unchanged after what she's been through."

Aaron grimaced. "How bad was it?"

Blake pulled out a scroll from between her and Weiss. "You're going to want to listen to this to find out." Aaron took the scroll and played back the recording at low volume. He paid very close attention to everything Ruby said. His fingers tightened on the scroll when Ruby repeated what the monster told her. That explained Cerise' roar. Aaron threw a glance at Yang when the recording ended. She caught the glance and looked away. She was willing to kill, even if it was to protect family. Aaron would have to keep an eye on her.

Aaron handed the scroll back to Blake and stared at the door. _Nalia, what do you think?_ he asked his dragon.

 _I don't like it,_ she said. _Her view on the world was so positive. I wonder how this will change her._

 _The counselor will most likely need counseling,_ Aaron agreed. _I just hope it didn't destroy her._

A few minutes of silence passed between them. Eventually Nalia spoke up. _Something's happening out here._

 _What's going on?_

 _All the transports are taking off and flying back to the_ Vytal _. I'm thinking I should do the same._

 _Be careful. I don't want you to be caught up in anything._ He leaned back against the wall and waited for the door to open up. Luckily, the wait wasn't too long. The door opened and a couple of doctors walked out of the room.

Yang quickly stood up and walked toward one of the doctors. He quickly held up a hand. "The operation was successful. She'll have full use of her new body parts when she wakes up, which should be in less than twenty minutes." Both doctors walked away, one of them pushing a metal cart.

"You have her clothes, right?" Yang asked.

Aaron removed the backpack he acquired while working through the ship and took out Ruby's now repaired clothes. "I did the best I could," he said. "I can only guarantee that there's no blood." He handed the clothes over to Yang.

Suddenly, the floor shook and Aaron heard a loud noise come from the front of the ship. _Nalia, what happened?_ he asked.

Nalia didn't respond for several seconds. Her shock rolled through their mental link. _They…destroyed the building. The area is still dusty, but I don't think anything could have survived that blast._

A whistle sounded through the hall, causing Weiss to finally stir from her sleep. "Attention all hands, this is the captain. Our mission is almost complete. We will escort the Faunus to Vale, then we'll be heading back to Atlas to drop off the Nevermores for trial. To those of you who hav been separated from your families, we will have you on the ground in an hour."

"An hour?" Aaron said in disbelief. "How fast are these things?"

 _I hope they don't mind if I land on the back,_ Nalia said. _My wings need to rest._

Soon, Aaron felt the ship move beneath his feet, not too different from being in the hold of a naval ship. Weiss shook herself awake and looked around. She focused up at Aaron. "When did you get here?" she asked.

"About a half hour ago," Aaron responded.

Weiss blinked a few times, then sighed and shook her head. "I need some sleep."

"We all do," Yang said as she opened the door to Ruby's room and froze in place. Her eyes glassed up as she stepped inside. The rest of the team followed. Aaron immediately understood why Yang was so hesitant to step inside. The right leg and arm of the Atlas body suit Ruby wore were rolled up past the knee and elbow, revealing new metal limbs. Her eyepatch was gone, and supposedly a new eye lay behind the eyelid. Still, even though Ruby would supposedly like the new limbs, it was a disturbing sight. They would always be a glaring reminder that Aaron failed at protecting one of his students.

The four uninjured teammates stood by their leader's side. Yang kept a hand on her sister's shoulder. They stood like that for several minutes, not saying anything. Ruby's eyes slowly opened, then closed in a flash. She groaned and rolled to the side. "Wakey, wakey, sleepy head," Yang said.

Ruby groaned again. "Five more minutes Yang."

"Hmm, not a chance. You've gotten more sleep than the rest of us tonight."

Ruby sighed and sat up. She rubbed her head with her good hand, then stopped. The metal arm rose off the bed and rested in front of Ruby's eyes. She turned it between front and back several times. She smirked and turned to Yang. "I think I may have an advantage in our fist fights now."

Yang laughed. "Don't count on it." Aaron could finally see Ruby's new eye. Physically, it looked identical to the other, but it lacked much of the emotion the other eye held. That was one downside Aaron didn't think about.

The youngest Rider turned to look at her new leg. She ran her natural hand along the metal limb. "It'll take some getting used to, but this will work." Her head shot up and turned to the wall. She didn't say anything until she whipped her head back to her team. "How long until I can get up and see Cerise?"

Yang set Ruby's clothes down on the edge of the bed. "How quickly can you get dressed?"

Ruby sunk her head between her shoulders and looked up at Aaron. "Quicker if there wasn't a guy in the room."

Aaron quickly turned around and left the room. In the hall, he saw the same soldier who escorted him from where the Faunus were being cared for. Aaron walked up to the man, feeling extremely out of his element. Back in Alagaësia, he could ask a soldier or other law enforcement for something, they would call in many reinforcements to get whatever task done quickly and efficiently. Here, though, he didn't know if the soldier would give him the time of day.

Still, he knew that no one on his team would be allowed anywhere on the ship without an escort. "Excuse me," Aaron said to the soldier, "we were wondering if we could get an escort to the hangar when our team leader is ready."

The soldier nodded. "I have been authorized to do so. How long will she take?"

"I don't think long." Aaron heard a door open up behind him. He turned around and saw Ruby, now back in her normal clothes, attempting to walk on her new leg. She wasn't very balanced, and would have fallen on her face if Yang hadn't caught her. Ruby sighed and threw her new arm across Yang's shoulders. Together they walked down the hall, with Blake and Weiss right behind.

"We good to go?" Ruby asked.

" _I_ am," Aaron said. "I'm not sure about you though."

Ruby's eyes dropped and her head dipped down. "A new leg and anesthetic don't go well together."

The soldier cleared his throat. "If you would all follow me, I will escort you to the hangar." He turned around and started walking. The whole of team RWBY followed.

"So Aaron," Ruby started, "if I remember this right, Yang said you pretty much took over while I was gone."

Aaron rubbed the back of his neck. "That's not a problem is it?" he asked quietly.

"You knew what you were doing," Yang said. "Well, at least you acted like it, which is more than the rest of us could say."

The green Rider looked away. "I think I like following orders better than giving them."

There was a pause, then Ruby asked, "Why's that?"

Aaron shook his head. "Not here, not now."

Ruby looked like she was going to press further when they stepped through the door to the hangar. Cerise hummed from the other side. Ruby instantly locked eyes with her dragon. "Cerise!" she yelled as she removed her arm from around Yang. She awkwardly ran across the hangar floor toward her dragon, while Cerise moved slowly to close the distance. Ruby threw her arms around Cerise' neck, whether it was to stay standing or just a big hug, Aaron couldn't tell. The two of them collapsed on the floor together.

The rest of the team hung back and just watched the two. "When was the first time you knew Nalia was more than a pet?" Yang asked.

Aaron turned to the blonde. "What do you mean?"

She thought it over for a few seconds. "When did you know that Nalia meant more to you than a normal animal?"

Aaron smiled. "It was when Nalia spoke for the first time. She had me when she said my name. Hopefully that's the way you learn it."

Yang nodded, then looked back at Ruby and Cerise. Aaron looked out of the hanger and just the pitch black of night and a few stars. The day had gone by quickly, and he felt like he used two days' worth of energy in only a few hours. He was looking forward to getting some sleep. It seemed his teammates were in a similar state, as Weiss and Blake yawned one after the other. Yang smirked and looked at Blake. "Need a cat nap over there?" she asked.

Blake just glared back. "You're tired, aren't you?"

Yang's response was holding up to fingers spread about an inch apart. "A little bit." For there, the conversation went downhill. The length and weight of the day finally caught up from the group. Everyone was laughing at even normal things that the others said. Even Blake wasn't immune to this. Aaron was in the process of recovering from one of Yang's puns when he looked up at Ruby and Cerise. Both were staring back with smiles on their faces.

Aaron was about to wave the two of them over when a noise sounded in the hanger. "Attention, we are now approaching Vale. Please prepare to disembark." Soldiers started to move around the hanger. One of them walked over to the larger group of huntsmen in training.

"We have a transport ready to take you down to Beacon," she said. "It will be ready to take off whenever you are."

Weiss nodded. "Lead the way," she said in a tired yet authoritative voice. The group, now plus one, moved toward one of three Bullheads in the hanger. Aaron heard several metal footsteps behind him. He turned to see Ruby limp-running in his direction. She tripped at the last second and Aaron barely caught her before she hit the floor.

"Why aren't you flying back with Cerise?" he asked as he threw Ruby's metal arm over his shoulders. He had to bend his knees to get to her height though.

"She doesn't think she can carry my right now," Ruby panted. "Better safe than sorry."

"Nalia wouldn't let you fall far." Still, the two of them walked to the Bullhead slowly. Yang helped her sister up when they got there. The side doors closed as soon as Aaron boarded. Soon after, he felt the Bullhead start moving, and it picked up speed quickly. Ruby was the only one sitting down, the rest holding onto the bars above their heads.

"Looks like Halcyon is waiting for us outside the Dragonhouse," Yang said.

"He's not going to pounce on you like Cerise does for Ruby, is he?" Blake asked. Ruby just chuckled.

Yang shrugged. "Possibly. They are brother and sister."

Weiss sighed. "Knowing how your family is, I'd be surprised if he doesn't." Everyone laughed, probably more than they should have. Aaron could remember only one other time being that tired, and that was after several days straight of flying with Nalia and some other pairs. That degenerated into nonsense talk as well.

Soon Aaron felt the Bullhead slow down and the doors opened. Halcyon sat right outside the main door of the Dragonhouse. He didn't move until all members of team RWBY stepped off the transport. The transport flew off and the two larger dragons landed soon after. Ruby slung her metal arm over Cerise' neck and the two walked toward the Dragonhouse.

Instead of running toward Yang, Halcyon ran to Ruby and Cerise. He looked right at Ruby's metal limbs and growled. As the red pair kept walking, Halcyon took a position by Ruby's side, glancing from side to side, a snarl on his face. His body followed the curve of one of Ruby's legs. "I think Halcyon's a little protective," Ruby called back to Yang.

"He gets that from me," the blonde Rider said as she caught up with her dragon. She leaned down and scratched Halcyon's head. He leaned into it, but did not stop in his search.

Weiss yawned long and loud. "Well, I guess we'll see you all in the morning."

Ruby and Cerise stopped walking, and Ruby turned back to look at Weiss and Blake. "Do you guys have to go back to the dorm tonight?" she asked, eyes pleading. "We don't have any extra bedding or couches, but…" Ruby didn't finish her thought.

Weiss and Blake exchanged a look. "Concrete actually sounds comfortable right now," Blake said.

"I think I have some tarp in one of Nalia's saddlebags," Aaron said. "It's not much, but you wouldn't be sleeping on the floor."

"Thank you," Blake sighed, before she yawned herself. Both Weiss and she followed Cerise into the now open building.

Aaron hopped onto Nalia's saddle from the ground and started rummaging through the saddlebags. _Ruby isn't okay, is she?_ the green dragon asked.

 _No,_ Aaron sighed. _We've seen this too many times. The question isn't if she'll break, but when._

* * *

 **Well, this one ended on a happier note than last chapter, and from the fast few weeks in the series. Holy crap, Volume III was a roller coaster of emotions.**

 **Here's my** **initial** **reactions to the finale in chronological order. If you haven't seen it, what are you doing reading this? It's free on their website. GO WATCH IT! SPOILERS AHEAD! (Deep breath) Ozpin, you're a beast! Yang no! OMG ARKOS CONFIRMED! Pyrrha you idiot! Pyrrha, you're a badass! PYRRHA NOOOOO! RUBY IS A MAIDEN CONFIRMED! Burnie as Taiyang? I'm okay with that. Yang, you better snap out of that funk when Ruby needs you. Cortana, why are you ruining everything?! Nice Semblance Qrow.**

 **Monty would be proud.**

 **Okay, now how this will affect the future of this story. After watching the episode a second time, Ruby is not, in fact, a maiden. She's something else entirely. I barely figured out how a maiden's magic works in here, now I have to figure out Silver-Eyes? Come on Rooster Teeth! As for Salem (aka Cortana, aka Jen Taylor), I have no clue…I had a full storyline (and half an alternate one) past Volume III set up, and she kind of throws a wrench right in the center of it. In all honesty, I might just completely ignore her going forward. Things can change though. I will tell you this though, Volume III will not end the same.**

 **Now after that bit, I need to help put myself back together from breaking under the feels.  
**


	18. Doing Something Right

**Before I start, I want to give a huge thank you to Alan Fadly of RiatVisualWorks on Deviantart for the amazing cover image. That picture is awesome.**

 **To respond to several reviewers who said Ruby could still be the winter maiden, you are absolutely right. Being a maiden and having silver eyes may not be mutually exclusive. At this point though…I'm just going with the flow. If I feel like making her a maiden, I will, but that won't come until way later.**

 **Now for a filler chapter with character development. There are a few very short POVs in here, but I feel they're necessary.**

* * *

Ruby snuck through the forest after her prey. She had tracked the kidnapper for several miles. Overhead, Cerise scouted for more of them. They were so close to finding the Nevermore base. The man Ruby followed was heading in that direction.

A building appeared through the gap in the trees. The man entered the building and disappeared behind a door. _This is the place, Cerise,_ Ruby told her dragon.

The red dragon rumbled her agreement. _Get in there and do what you can,_ she said. Ruby nodded with her head and mind. She ran toward the door and placed a hand on Crescent Rose, ready to draw her weapon at a moment's notice. The Rider opened the door and stepped inside.

Ruby gasped as she entered the room. All around her lie dead Faunus, all chained to the wall. Some had slits across their necks, others had numerous cuts across their bodies. As Ruby looked around the room, her eyes rested on a young cat Faunus girl who looked awfully familiar. The corpse opened her eyelids, revealing the tortured orbs behind. Her lips moved. "Why?" she asked.

The young Rider brought a hand to her mouth. Tears streamed down her face. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I…I wasn't fast enough." The corpse closed her eyelids and returned to being dead.

Footsteps caught Ruby's attention. She looked up and saw the man she had been chasing for who knew how long. The Boss of the Nevermores. Ruby moved bring up Crescent Rose, but something caught her arm. She glanced down at her hand and saw it was chained to the wall. Another thing, a large tear cut her sleeve in half. She saw bloody and inflamed skin underneath. She snapped her head to the other side and saw much the same thing. Pain on her right side screamed for attention. Something flopped into her right eye.

Panic overtook Ruby as the Boss approached with an evil smile on his face, and a combat knife in hand. _Cerise! I need help now!_ There was no response. _Cerise, where are you?_

The Boss stuck out a hand and grabbed Ruby's neck. "Did you know you have three ears?" He squeezed Ruby's neck. "Normal people only have two. Let's fix that, shall we?"

Ruby screamed, and everything turned black. The blackness was quickly replaced by a red curtain. She sat up, but still she screamed. The curtain raised and Ruby saw she was in a warehouse of some kind. For whatever reason, she had a red heart rate monitor in the upper right corner of her vision. She stopped screaming and quickly looked around for an exit.

Before she could move, someone put hands on both her shoulders. "Ruby! Snap out of it!" a voice said.

Ruby clenched her eyes and started flailing her arms at her attacker. "Get off of me! Get off of me! Get off of me!" she repeated over and over.

"Ruby! It's me! Yang!" Ruby slowed her flailing as she recognized the name and voice. She opened her eyes and looked right at her big sister. Tears started to roll down the younger sister's cheeks. Ruby whimpered once, then threw her arms around Yang and began sobbing intensely. Yang returned the hug and Cerise sent comforting thoughts, but it was not nearly enough. "Ruby, it's okay. It was just a dream."

The younger sister kept sobbing for several minutes before she could talk again. "But it wasn't a dream," she said. "It was real. I lived it. He was torturing me. They were going to _kill_ Cerise!"

Cerise hummed and Ruby felt her dragon's snout against her forehead. _They wouldn't kill me,_ the red dragon said. _Scales regrow, and Nalia says dragon scales are extremely valuable in Alagaësia, I'm sure they're even more so here._

Ruby opened her watery eyes and locked hers with her dragon's. _What if they aren't?_ she asked her dragon. _The scales on your leg should be fully regrown by now. What if your scales can never grow back?_

Cerise' wings drooped. _We don't need to worry about what ifs. We are free and alive._ She once again pressed her snout against her Rider's head. _We are safe here._

The intensity of Ruby's sobbing lessened, but it didn't stop. Yang gently rubbed her sister's back like she used to. Ruby felt someone else hug her from behind, then saw Weiss's white sleeves wrapped around Yang's and her body. "You don't have to go through this alone Ruby," the heiress said. "We're with you all the way."

Soon after, Blake entered Ruby's vision, and she wrapped her arms around those already on the floor. "I can't pretend to know what you went through in there," she said, "but you saved all those Faunus that way. I don't think I'll ever be able to make it up to you for going in there like that."

Ruby slowly melted into her teammates arms. One more set joined, these ones clad in green. The young Rider turned her head to see Aaron had joined the group hug. He didn't say anything and the expression on his face said that he wasn't exactly comfortable, but he was still there.

Two golden wings enveloped the biped members of team RWBY. Halcyon just hummed happily, most likely because he couldn't speak yet. Cerise wrapped her long neck around the group, and ended up looking Ruby right in the eyes. Even Nalia got involved. She lay down across from Cerise and draped one massive wing over them all.

Ruby once again buried her head in her sister's shoulder. "Thank you," she said. "Thank you all." She stayed in that position for a while, the stream of tears more controlled. She was literally surrounded by her friends, her family. They all stayed in their respective positions, not saying anything, just being there. After who knew how long, Ruby felt herself falling back asleep. She hesitantly let it happen, hoping the time among her family would at least dull the nightmares.

* * *

Eventually, Yang heard Ruby's breathing slow down to an easy pace. She gently brushed against her sister's mind and her suspicion was proven correct. _She's asleep,_ Yang told everyone else. The large group hug slowly broke apart, soon leaving only the sisters together. Yang slowly brought Ruby's head down onto her dog pillow.

Cerise snaked her own head beside Ruby's. She looked up at Yang. _This can't happen again tonight,_ she said.

 _Well, yeah,_ Yang said back, unsure of herself, _but how?_

 _If she dreams, we make sure it stays away from all that._

Yang looked at Cerise nervously. _Are you saying we go into her head and prevent it ourselves?_ The red dragon simply nodded. _Isn't that a little invasive? I don't even know if I can do that, or of its possible._

 _I don't know, but I can't watch and feel her suffer through another one of those._ Cerise moved her head right next to Ruby's.

Yang bit her lip. Aaron explained before that a person's mind is their last bastion of privacy. Going that deep into Ruby's head would definitely be an extreme intrusion. Still, Yang didn't want to see her little sister freak out like that again. That was the worst reaction yet. Eventually, she sighed. _Alright, but if she gets angry, I'm pinning this on you._

Cerise blinked slowly. _I will take that._ Yang turned around and walked back to the spot Halcyon picked for the night, but stopped halfway there. She looked back at Ruby and bit her lip. When they were kids, Ruby crawled into Yang's bed whenever there was a bad storm. That always calmed her down before. Would it work now?

Yang decided to bite the bullet. She returned to Ruby's side and laid down next to her. Cerise didn't protest. Halcyon also approached and stretched a leg out for Yang to use as a pillow. Yang curled an arm around Ruby's head and pulled her close. Instantly, Ruby picked her head up and rested it on Yang's shoulder. Her feet pushed her up as well. Yang thought she woke up Ruby, but she was still asleep. After all this time, it was still instinct for Ruby. Yang tilted her head forward and touched her forehead to Ruby's. _Please don't hate me Ruby,_ she thought. _I'm doing this for you._ Yang pulled her head back and rested it on Halcyon's leg. Halcyon rested a wing over both sisters. She closed her eyes and stretched her mind out to her sister's. Ruby would _not_ have another one of those nightmares tonight. _  
_

* * *

Ruby slowly opened her eyes and saw she was staring right at one of Cerise' closed eyelids. Ruby looked to the side and saw she had both her arms wrapped around her dragon's neck. She did not remember doing that in the night. Still, there were worse things that could have happened. She rubbed her forehead against the side of Cerise face, somehow not waking the dragon.

Her pillow also felt weird, kind of hard and lumpy. Ruby looked down and saw one of Yang's arms wrapped around her. She turned her head around completely and saw a lot of blonde hair, the back of Yang's head. When did that happen? Also, when did she start using one of Halcyon's wings as a blanket? Still, she had to admit she was comfortable.

Ruby started to bring her arms back to herself, but her new one caught on a scale. That woke Cerise up in a hurry, and she groaned. "Sorry," Ruby apologized. She managed to pull her arm back to herself. The offending section of arm was just a small overhang allowing for movement on the underside of the elbow.

There wasn't any damage, but Ruby still got depressed. She didn't feel the snag on her elbow, but on the stub of her arm where metal met skin. It would have hurt, but it would have been nice to feel _something_. Ruby tapped on her metal leg with her metal arm, and again, only felt vibrations in the connected areas. Her shoulders slumped, and a single tear left her good eye. Cerise hummed sadly and once again nudged her snout against Ruby's face. _You'll be fine,_ the dragon soothed. _At least you won't be able to feel pain there._

 _Or anything else,_ Ruby thought glumly. _Not rain, not blankets, not anything. You don't really know how much you appreciate feeling things until you can't._ Cerise hummed again and placed her head on her Rider's lap. Ruby ran her good hand over Cerise' head.

After about a minute of petting Cerise in silence, Ruby looked around the Dragonhouse. Of course, Yang and Halcyon were right there with her. Nalia sprawled out in her normal spot, but her position said Aaron couldn't be under one of her wings like usual. Ruby turned her head to look behind Cerise and saw Blake sleeping on a tarp next to the wall. There was no sign of Weiss.

Yang moaned and she turned her head. Her eyes opened and immediately locked with Ruby's. "Morning Ruby," she said. "Sleep well?"

Ruby smiled and nodded. "Second half anyway. Best I've had in weeks." She paused as she remembered some strange things that happened in her dreams, like Yang being there the whole time. "Did you have something to do with that?"

Yang froze, then put a hand behind her neck. "I couldn't bear seeing you go through another one of those fits."

The younger sister smiled at the older. She knew Yang only meant to help, not intrude. "Don't worry about it. Just don't tell anyone what you saw."

Yang nodded. "It never even crossed my mind." She pulled Ruby into a tight hug. Halcyon stood up and walked around so he could nuzzle Ruby's cheek. Yang looked up and out one of the windows. "You got the time?"

Ruby sat up and searched her pockets for her Scroll, if she even had it anymore. As her fingers came up empty, some blue numbers appeared in the upper right corner of her vision. "A little after noon, apparently." She shook her head. "Is there and instruction manual for this thing?" Sure enough, an envelope's outline appeared directly underneath the time. It opened and an instruction manual covered most of the right side of her vision. Ruby gave a full arm shrug as the intrusive page stayed put.

"You okay Ruby?" Yang asked after a few seconds.

Ruby raised her right arm and tapped right beside her eye once. She immediately regretted it, as her new metal fingers moved faster than she wanted them to and hit at least ten times harder than intended. "Ow!" she yelled as she clenched her eye. She rubbed that side of her face with her good hand. "Apparently my eye can act like a scroll." She opened her eye, and the manual disappeared.

"Sounds like you're tuning into Cybercop," Yang quipped.

"Only there's a little more to me than there is to him." Ruby stood up slowly and tested her balance on her new leg. She didn't notice it before, but her tights were extremely baggy on that leg. As she took a step, a small prick of pain shot up what was left of her right leg. She stumbled a bit, but Cerise was right there to catch her.

By that point, Blake was staring at the red pair through half open eyes. "How you doing this morning?" she asked.

Ruby shrugged. "Better than last night, but then again, that's not hard." Cerise and she took a few more tentative steps, the pain in her leg decreasing with each footfall. "You wouldn't know what happened to Weiss, would you?"

"I think she and Aaron left around seven-thirty. Weiss said she was going to classes while Aaron said he had something to do in the city."

Ruby froze in place. "Classes! We're slept through both!"

"Relax, Ruby," Yang said. "I'm sure professors Port and Oobleck would be understanding on why we missed."

"Do they know?" Ruby was getting worried again.

Blake and Yang exchanged a quick glance. "We are students, and you were injured," Blake said. "The soldier who debriefed us said they were obligated to inform Ozpin."

Ruby's head sunk between her shoulders. "I take it dad knows too?" she asked Yang.

"If he doesn't, he will soon." Yang crossed her arms. "That couldn't have been a fun call to get late at night."

"Note self: call dad." The note appeared in the top right of Ruby's vision. She chuckled a little. "Well, I least I won't forget now."

The human-sized door to the Dragonhouse opened and the two missing team members entered, Weiss wearing her school uniform and Aaron in his normal clothes. Nalia finally showed signs of life; she yawned, stretched, and looked at the new arrivals. "Afternoon, everyone," Aaron called. Ruby waved, and started making her way back toward the center of the Dragonhouse, Cerise right by her side.

All members of team RWBY met up in the middle of the building. Aaron held a bag of something, but there was no business name on the bag. "How you holding up?" Weiss asked Ruby.

The youngest Rider rolled her eyes at have to answer the same question for a third time. "I'm just testing out my new leg. I don't want to be stumbling around in public." Weiss just nodded.

"So apparently we made the news last night," Aaron said, taking his scroll out of his pocket with his free hand. "Well, they didn't call us out specifically, but they definitely have our story out." He broke the circle and walked toward the projector. Nalia met him there and nudged him with her snout.

"So Weiss," Ruby started, "what did we miss in class today?"

"Nothing terribly important," Weiss responded. "Professor Oobleck just had a review session for the test next Tuesday, and Professor Port, well, he claims to have ripped an Ursa apart with his bare hands."

"Come on, you always find some meaning behind his stories," Yang chipped in.

Weiss shook her head. "Not this time. Not sure if it's because I was tired, or he really was just boasting."

"Anything from that story that he would put on a test?" Blake asked.

Weiss' eyes narrowed in concentration. "Maybe how long it takes to physically rip an Ursa apart. Other than that, no."

"I think I've got it," Aaron called. Ruby looked up and saw the VNN homepage projected on the wall. The main headline read 'Atlas Destroys Criminal Organization's Complex.'

The screen changed and a recording of the news broadcast filled the wall. Lisa Lavender started speaking. "Late last night, the Atlas military launched an assault on a building controlled by the Nevermore Cartel. The cruiser _Vytal_ received the location from a Huntsman infiltration team around midday yesterday." The image changed to an aerial view of the building with several transports on the ground. Ruby's head sunk between her shoulders as she looked at the building she was tortured in. Cerise hummed sadly as she settled down beside her Rider.

"The military reports capturing one of the heads of the Cartel, Granite O'Donnell." Ruby didn't hear what was said next, as she looked at the face of the man who tortured her. She took a few small steps backward and nearly tripped over Cerise' tail. Aaron apparently saw this and skipped ahead in the recording to after the man was off screen.

"-and is expected to get life in prison, if not the death penalty," Lisa continued. "The raid on the facility freed eleven Faunus captives and one member of the infiltration team. The ages of said captives ranged from five to sixteen, not including the captured Huntsman. Soldiers also secured unconfirmed amounts of various narcotics."

"Five?" Ruby mumbled. That little lion Faunus girl that almost never stopped crying?

"Unfortunately this attack was not without loss. Five soldiers lost their lives in the fighting, and twelve more were injured." Aaron shifted uncomfortably on his feet. Nalia looked at her Rider, and something unheard passed between them.

"All remaining soldiers were evacuated from the facility, and then the _Vytal_ bombarded the building from the air." Once again, the projection turned to an aerial view of the building, this time at night. Two red lasers shot out from underneath the camera and hit the building, causing a massive explosion.

Ruby sighed in relief and leaned on Cerise. _At least no one else will be tortured in there,_ she told her dragon.

A hand fell on Ruby's shoulder. She looked up to see Yang's concerned eyes staring right back. "You going to be okay?" she asked.

"Let's just put this behind us as soon as possible," Ruby said while hugging herself.

Blake sighed, then said, "I am perfectly fine with that."

"Oh, Ruby, you got something in the mail." Weiss said, changing the subject. She reached into her bag and removed a white envelope. Ruby took it and read the return address.

"Aqua Calrow?" she said confused. Then it hit her. "Violet?" Cerise perked up at that revelation.

"Who's Violet?" Yang asked, thoroughly confused.

"She's the first Faunus me and Aaron found." Ruby opened the envelope using a finger and took out what was inside. She gasped and covered her mouth with her free hand. It was a completely hand drawn card. A sun wearing sunglasses sat in the top right corner. The background was what Ruby assumed to be the city of Vale. Bottom center, two figures stood, one with red hair, the other with little ears sticking out the top of her head. The words 'Tank you!' were written in large letters just off dead center of the card.

Ruby opened the card and saw more of the same. Instead of Vale, the CCT tower in the center of Beacon rose up the crease of the page. A green dragon flew on the top right corner of the page, with another stick figure on its back. On the ground, the same two figures from the front were holding scythes matching their own colors. Two dragons also were also on the ground, one red, one purple. In the center were the words 'Wen i grow up, i want to be just lik you.'

"Hey, Remnant to Ruby, you okay?" Ruby looked up at Yang with a large smile on her face. Her throat was too constricted to say anything, so she just nodded and handed over the card. Yang took it, and almost immediately a smile formed on her face. "I'd say you have a fan for life here, sis." Yang passed the card over to Weiss, then crushed her sister in a hug.

"I still need to breathe here," Ruby choked out. Yang released her sister, and Ruby took a few seconds to catch her breath. "How'd they get my mailing address anyway?"

"Your face and name were all over the news for a few days," Weiss said after handing the card over to Blake. "They might have contacted Ozpin to get it."

"Why would Ozpin give away a student's address to anyone?" Aaron asked, more than a little incredulous.

Ruby shrugged. "Well, they aren't exactly media. He's smart enough to make a connection." Suddenly, her stomach growled loud and long.

Yang looked like she was about to laugh, then her face turned a complete one-eighty. "When was the last time you really had something to eat?" she asked completely serious.

"Not since breakfast yesterday." Ruby covered her stomach and blushed slightly. Even though she had every right to be hungry after what she'd been through, it still was a little embarrassing.

"I think I may have something to help with that," Aaron said as he reached into the bag he carried. He pulled out a colored box and Ruby couldn't help but laugh.

"Is that why you went into the city?" she asked as Aaron handed over the box of cookies.

"Well, you seem to like these, and after yesterday, you deserve them."

 _After you eat some healthier food, of course,_ Cerise chimed in.

Ruby turned to look her dragon in the eye. " _You_ haven't eaten for two days. I expect you to fix that when the rest of us are eating."

"I'll pick something up for you from the cafeteria, Ruby," Yang said and she started walking toward the door.

"Why would you do that? I'm going with you."

Yang turned back, skepticism evident on her face. "You sure you want to do that? You were stumbling around just a few minutes ago."

"I'm _fine_ Yang. If I'm not, someone will catch me."

Blake shifted uncomfortably on her feet. "Are you sure you want people to know about…" She let her thought hang.

Ruby blinked, then looked at her metal hand. People would find out eventually, most likely in Goodwitch's sparring class, but that day wasn't today. "Did we keep my gloves?" she asked Cerise.

The red dragon took a few steps forward stopping with the saddlebags right by Ruby's right arm. _They should be in one of these._ Ruby looked through two of the bags before she found the black gloves. She hesitated before she put them on. The last time she wore them, they were covered in Cerise' blood. _That was a long time ago,_ Cerise soothed.

Ruby turned back to her dragon. _It hasn't even been a month._

 _Don't worry. I'm fine._ Ruby stole a glance at Cerise leg injury before the dragon hid it from view. The Rider sighed then put her gloves on.

"Well, if we're going to go, let's go!" Yang said, back in her regular voice. Ruby quickly took her place beside her sister, with their dragons on either side. Weiss and Blake were right behind, and Aaron brought up the rear. Nalia took flight right as she left the Dragonhouse. Throughout the walk to the cafeteria, Ruby tried her best to walk normally, but the awkwardness from walking on an unfamiliar leg and the occasional spike of pain prevented her from doing so. Luckily, the students walking around didn't notice. Still, Ruby saw every time her sleeve flapped more than it should have in the wind. The worst part was she still couldn't feel it.

Team RWBY arrived at the cafeteria with no one trying to stop them. Cerise and Halcyon nudged their respective Riders, then took off themselves. The bipeds of the team entered the building and headed for the serving line. Ruby subconsciously scanned the room to see how many people were around. Luckily there weren't many students eating at that time, and team CRDL was nowhere to be found. The members of team CFVY were the only ones Ruby recognized in the room.

Ruby picked up a tray, and she could only think about not accidentally breaking it with her new hand. It was plastic, but it still could break. She picked the table closest to the end of the line so she didn't have to walk too far to quickly get back in line. The rest of the team sat down shortly after.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, everyone focusing on eating. Apparently everyone was hungry after the previous day. "So Aaron," Yang finally said, "you've been here a few weeks, what's your favorite thing that Remnant has to offer that your place can't?"

"That's easy, air conditioning," Aaron said between bites. "I can take the cold just fine, I just can't stand when it gets hot. Nalia will tell you, I'm not the most pleasant person when I'm overheated."

"I know what you mean," Weiss agreed. "I can't stand the heat either."

"Says the one from the frozen tundra of Atlas," Yang snickered. Weiss glared at her teammate.

"Don't dragons like it hot?" Ruby asked.

"They prefer it, but they get along just fine in the mountains. Though I will say, I've never seen Nalia happier than when she's in the Hadarac Desert."

"Then I guess me and Cerise will have to go to Vacuo some time." Ruby returned her attention to the pizza in front of her.

About a minute passed before someone else spoke. "Hey, there you guys are." Ruby looked up and saw team JNPR making their way over to the table. Jaune waved with one hand while holding his food tray with the other. "I was wondering what happened to the rest of you."

"Hey Jaune," Ruby waved back with her good hand. "Yesterday was…unexpectedly busy."

"Busy enough to miss the egg meeting?" Nora asked, sounding extremely disappointed.

Aaron rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry about that. We didn't get back until well after dark."

"Well that explains why Weiss was so sleepy in class today." Nora's voice went back to its normal self.

"So what happened yesterday?" Ren asked.

"Family emergency," Ruby said, almost too quickly. "Dad had an accident back home and was in the hospital." Jaune's and Nora's shocked reactions were expected, but Ren and Pyrrha looked unconvinced.

"He nearly lost an arm believe it or not," Yang continued, picking up on Ruby's lie. Ruby could tell Yang was holding back a wince. "He's fine now. Aaron was able to take care of what the doctors couldn't."

Aaron shrugged. "I do what I can."

Jaune sighed. "Well then, I'm glad he's okay." Nora nodded her agreement.

The two other teammates exchanged a glance, then Pyrrha focused on Ruby. "I don't mean to pry, but what's really bothering you?"

Ruby tensed up and unintentionally put her good arm over her metal one. "What do you mean?"

"A family emergency typically doesn't need to involve the whole team."

"Pyrrha," Yang said in a lowered voice, "we don't want to talk about it."

"Yang..." Ruby looked at her sister.

"I'm going off you here." Yang winced. "I thought..."

"Not like that." Ruby shook her head.

"Oh. Well then..." Pyrrha stuttered, "will the rest of you be back in class later?"

"Maybe. I've got a..." Ruby stopped. Did she really want to lie to JNPR? Pyrrha probably already had it figured out with her Semblance. By now, they all had to know what was going on, and they wouldn't stop wondering. Ruby sighed, then looked around herself, making sure no one was in listening distance. She turned back to the other team. "Have you paid attention to the news this morning?" she whispered.

"What about it?" Jaune asked. "It's all about Atlas taking out that Nevermore base." Ruby looked down at the table, then back up at the other team leader. Realization quickly made its way onto Jaune's face, and it infected the rest of his team. "That was you?"

Ruby nodded, then lifted her sleeve on her metal arm a about an inch. Pyrrha and Nora covered their mouths with a hand, Jaune looked absolutely horrified, Ren just stared at the arm with sad eyes. Ruby quickly covered it. "Please don't tell anyone," she pleaded.

Jaune's face cleared. "Like I said, I'm glad your dad's alright."

Ruby sighed and lowered her head. "Thank you," she whispered. When she looked back up, she saw Velvet walking back to her table. Something was off. There was already a set of rabbit ears sitting with team CFVY. A student blocking Ruby's view to the other table vacated his seat. Ruby's eyes widened and she gasped. It wasn't a set of ears, it was just one, and it belonged to the girl that was chained up next to her.

"Ruby, you okay?" Yang asked.

"Yang, turn around." She did and searched the room for a few seconds. Her eyes widened and she turned back to Ruby. "What is she doing here?" The rest of team RWBY searched the area, and one by one they all had the same reaction.

"Who are we talking about now?" Jaune asked innocently.

"One of the Faunus who was ch…who was in the room with me." The Faunus looked up and made eye contact with Ruby. Recognition immediately crossed her face. Velvet put a hand on the other Faunus' shoulder and said something. The girl gestured at Ruby, and Velvet looked in her direction. She immediately turned back to her friend, and said something with more urgency. The girl took out a scroll and said something else to Velvet. The latter hesitated, then nodded. Both rabbit Faunus stood up and started walking toward Ruby.

Jaune turned to his team. "I, uh, think we have stuff to do elsewhere," he said. Team JNPR stood up and brought their food with them. Ren gave Ruby a sympathetic nod as he passed. Ruby watched them go. She knew why they were leaving, but she couldn't help wishing they didn't. Ruby looked at the rest of her team. At least they weren't going anywhere.

The two rabbit Faunus stood across from Ruby, the former prisoner looking as nervous as Ruby felt. "Hi," Ruby eventually squeaked out. She halfheartedly waved with her good hand.

"Hi," the girl said. "I don't think we were ever introduced. I'm Claret." She stuck out a hand.

Ruby took it after less than a second's hesitation. "I'm Ruby." They let go of each other's hands and Ruby looked between the two Faunus. "You two know each other?"

"We grew up on the same street," Velvet answered. "We're practically sisters." She smiled. "So thank you for helping her out."

Ruby rubbed the back of her neck. "I don't know what I did. The rest of my team did all the work."

"You fought back when no one else would," Claret said. "You hurt them in ways none of the rest of us could." She turned to the rest of team RWBY. "I wouldn't be here right now if not for the rest of you either. Thank you all so much."

The rest of the team smiled and nodded. "How's your arm?" Aaron asked.

Claret rolled out her right shoulder. "Not broken, and I can feel my fingers again." Ruby subconsciously moved her good hand to her own right shoulder. At least she could still feel that. Claret once again removed her scroll from her pocket and turned back to Ruby. "A few of us recorded something for you back on the ship."

Ruby took the scroll and hit the play button. The rest of her team gathered around her. The video opened up with Claret alone on the screen. "Uh, hi. Ruby, Yang, Aaron, I don't know how I'm going to get this to you, but this is something I feel like I have to do. A few of us want to say some things to you, but, well, you're all kind of busy right now. I hope this is good enough."

The video cut to another one of the Faunus from that room. He went on to thank Ruby and the rest for getting him out of there. It wasn't just a simple thank you either. He went on for a few minutes saying how Ruby helped him get through those final hours. Then he thanked Yang specifically for helping with a head injury. The boy finished off by wholeheartedly wishing that Ruby would recover from that rocket. By the time the screen changed to the next person, Ruby's eyes were tearing up and her throat had constricted.

The next three Faunus spoke in a similar pattern. By the time the little lion girl came on screen, Ruby had handed the scroll off to Yang to hold because her arms were shaking too much. She covered her mouth with both hands, unintentionally covering a massive smile underneath. Her tears soaked her gloved hands fairly quickly.

Next came a pair of soldiers that Ruby didn't recognize, yet they were talking about her like she was one of them. They both said that Ruby was tougher than any soldier on the _Vytal_ in their own ways. One of the soldiers went as far as saying that he'd do his best to get team RWBY military support if ever needed. Whether that was actually possible, Ruby had no idea, but at that point it was the thought that counted.

The video wrapped up with Claret giving her own two cents. She said the least out of all of them, most likely because she heard everything the rest had to say. The video ended and Yang handed the scroll back to Claret. "Any way I can get a copy of that?" Yang asked Claret.

"I can send it to your scroll." The Faunus hit a few buttons on her scroll, and pointed it at Yang's. Apparently the transmission went through.

Yang put an arm around her sister's shoulder. "Forget what I said earlier," she said. "You have _several_ lifetime fans now."

Ruby nodded and wiped some of the tears off her face. She looked up and smiled at Claret, who had since sat down directly across from her. Ruby tried to speak, but was unable to get out a sound out for a few seconds. "Thank you," she finally said.

Claret made a confused face. "Why are you thanking me?" she asked

"You showed me I'm doing something right." Ruby looked back at the table. "Still, I hope I never get another one of those videos again." Claret smiled and nodded.

"Ruby," Velvet started, "if you or any of your team need anything, let any of us know." She gestured to the rest of her team.

Ruby smile and nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

Coco walked over to Velvet and tapped her on the shoulder. "Sorry to break this up, but we got to go." She looked over to Ruby, and tilted her sunglasses down. "If you need help making that arm look natural, or want a better way to cover it up, come find me."

This time Ruby intentionally grabbed her metal arm. "How'd you know?"

"The gloves, and your right sleeve is baggier than your left." Ruby stared at the other team leader dumbstruck.

"I've been with her a year and a half," Velvet said, "and I still don't know how she does it." Both rabbit Faunus stood up. "See you around Ruby."

"Claret," Ruby called, "you going to be around for a while?"

The rabbit Faunus shook her head. "I had to pay Velvet a visit after all that. Get my mind off it, you know?" Ruby simply nodded. With that, team CFVY and Claret left the cafeteria.

"Well, that was unexpected," Weiss said after a few seconds of silence.

"Yeah, but it was nice." Ruby wiped some more tears off her face. As she was doing so, she saw that several other students in the cafeteria were staring. "Maybe we should leave."

"Probably a good idea," Aaron agreed while looking around himself. Team RWBY got up and made their own way to the door. Yang had an arm around her sister's shoulders she whole way.

"Ruby, you're eyes are as red as your hood," Yang commented.

"Heh, I wonder why." Ruby paused. "Both of them?"

Yang hesitated. "It's trying, but it's still nowhere close."

Ruby sighed. A message appeared in the right corner of her vision again. 'Reminder: Call Dad.' "Not now," Ruby said, drawing a weird look from her teammates. "My eye's being weird." That was enough for them. For Ruby, the day was off to a decent start. Her own disabilities and earlier episode were temporarily forgotten, replaced by memories of the card and the thank you video. For the first time, she felt she was making a difference. That was more than any otherfifteen year old girl could say.

* * *

 **By this point, I'm sure you can see I have no medical experience whatsoever and I have no idea how real life people with prosthetics**

 **Next chapter should once again overlap with Volume II. Not much else to say here…Had a birthday since I last uploaded…Still reeling over Pyrrha's death…so yeah. See you next week.**


	19. Family

**The last chapter was the first really 'feely' chapter I think I've written. Again, people liked it better than I thought was possible. There's more of that coming in the future too, after we get back to moving the plot forward.**

 **Well, here's the next one. Back to Volume II.**

* * *

Aaron lay on a new couch recently brought into the Dragonhouse. He was intently reading a biology textbook. The other members of his team thought he was crazy for reading a textbook in his free time, but he wasn't exactly doing it for fun. Alagaësia didn't know how exactly the human body worked. Already, Aaron had found out that several deadly diseases back home were eradicated on Remnant, or a nuisance more than deadly. Others, he thought he could treat or cure with magic while technology couldn't do more than slow progress.

 _If only we had this much information back home,_ he thought to Nalia. _So many more people would still be alive._

 _Books like this would have helped,_ the dragon agreed. _So much knowledge in one book that students here must know. If magic was prevalent here, there would be even less suffering._

Aaron nodded his head, then looked up. _Well, for the most part anyway._ He looked across the Dragonhouse at Ruby. She stood at a new workbench doing something with her metal arm. Several of her own biology books lay across the table. If the last week was any indication, she probably had even more information on her scroll and her fake eye, however that last one worked.

Ever since Ruby obtained various tools and supplies two days after being rescued, the young Rider spent almost all her time either in the Dragonhouse or another workshop trying to improve her arm. Much to the initial surprise of her teammates, Ruby didn't try to install a gun in her arm. When she explained she was focusing on getting feeling back in her arm, they understood. So far, Ruby said she had made little progress. As far as Aaron understood, no one had ever been able to successfully incorporate a nervous system into a bionic arm before. There were several attempts, but all failed. Still, the field was relatively new, and Ruby had hopes that she could come up with something.

Still, Aaron was worried. She was pushing herself too hard. Ruby got up early in the morning to research and test, and went to bed late each night. During class and their magic training sessions, she was tired and her head was always somewhere else. If there was any bright side, she rarely thought about her imprisonment. Well, she didn't break down anyway.

 _Nalia, we have to get Ruby out of here,_ Aaron said _, Where's the rest of the team?_

 _They're in their room,_ Nalia replied. _If I had to guess, I'd say they're doing homework, or in Yang's case, putting it off._

Aaron closed his book and set it on the end table by his head. He stood up and started walking out of the Dragonhouse. Before he left though, he turned to look at where the last egg was now buried. It had been two weeks since the members of team JNPR were brought before the egg. It never even made a sound.

The Rider sighed and left the building. If Ruby noticed him leave, she didn't let on. Aaron took out his scroll and entered Yang's number. I rang twice before she answered. "Hey Aaron, what's up?" she asked.

"Not much," Aaron said. "Still trying to get through that biology book."

"I get why you're reading it, but I don't understand how you can bear it."

"Simple necessity. I might be able to save a life with what's in there." Yang made a noise that Aaron now associated with 'whatever.' He turned his head back toward the Dragonhouse. "Also, I'm worried about Ruby."

Yang sighed over the scroll. "She still working on her arm nonstop?"

"Yeah, I don't even think she noticed me leave the building." Aaron sighed this time. "You know her best, what's the best way to snap her out of this?"

"Hmmm." The creak of a chair floated through the scroll. "We have a board game in here that she likes that we haven't played in a while. That could do the trick."

"As long as she's out of the Dragonhouse and workshops. The library's a good bet."

"Probably a good idea. You going to be there as well?"

"Yeah, figured I should brush up on Remnant's history a little more."

"More spare time reading, or for class?"

"A little bit of both."

"Alright, see you in a few." Yang disconnected and Aaron put his scroll back in his pocket. A shadow covered him, and Aaron looked up at the obstruction. Several Atlas ships had arrived in Vale over the last day. All those currently in the kingdom were smaller than the _Vytal,_ but all could still probably take on several dragons at once if needed. Aaron hadn't been in Vale long, but he knew shows of force like this always preceded something.

Aaron entered the library and immediately headed for the history section. Once there, he picked up a few books on the Human-Faunus war. Doctor Oobleck assigned a reading in only one of them, but Aaron wanted to know more about Remnant's history. He learned the hard way that the elves didn't take ignorance very well, and he did his best since then to not make a fool of himself.

As Aaron searched for a place to sit, he came across team JNPR already sitting at a table. Nora was sleeping on top of the book Ren was reading, Jaune and Pyrrha were each reading their own books. An X-Ray and Vav comic lay on the table as well. "Mind if I join you?" Aaron asked.

The three that were awake looked up. "Oh, Aaron," Jaune said, sounding surprised. "Not at all, take a seat." Aaron sat in the chair directly across from Pyrrha.

"The Faunus War," Pyrrha commented. "More extracurricular reading or is this for class?"

"A bit of both," Aaron opened a book to the assigned section. "If I'm going to live here, I might as well know some of the history."

"If Doctor Oobleck ever asks what advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune, it's night vision," Jaune commented. Aaron wondered what would cause Jaune to say that. He shook his head and turned his attention to the book.

After a few minutes, Aaron heard a few familiar voices. He looked up and saw the rest of his team walking roughly in his direction. Yang held a box in one of her arms. Ruby of course wore her gloves, covering up her metal hand. She was smiling and talking with the rest of her team, and Aaron swore he saw a scheme brewing in the young Rider's good eye.

Aaron returned his attention to his book and continued reading. The girls of his team sat down and played their game. Ruby and Yang were being overly loud and dramatic about it, while Weiss sounded overly confused and Blake sounded like she didn't care. At one point, Aaron swore he heard that Weiss attacked her own navy. Jaune snickered a little.

A few minutes later, Aaron decided to listen in on what exactly was going on at the other table. Ruby was making a few noises of concentration, then she said dramatically, "Yang Xiao Long, prepare your kingdom for battle!"

"Bring it on!" Yang said, acting as dramatic as her sister.

"I deploy, the Atlesian Air Fleet!" Yang gasped. "Looks like I get to fly right over your Ursai and attack your walls directly." Ruby started making some battle sounds.

"You fiend!"

"And since Atlas is a part of Mantle, my repair time only lasts, one turn."

Yang laughed evilly and Ruby gasped this time. "Pretty sneaky sis, but you've just activated my trap card!" Ruby made a noise that sounded like 'What?!' "Giant Nevermore! If I roll a seven or higher, Fatal Feathers will slice your fleet in two."

"But, if you roll a six or lower, the Nevermore will turn on your own forces."

"That's just a chance I'm willing to take." Aaron looked over at the two sisters. They were only inches from each other's faces, both had evil grins on their faces. They pulled back and Yang rolled a multisided die. "Hah!"

"NOOOOOO! My fearless sold-" Ruby slammed both her hands into her head, and Aaron could hear the sound of impact from where he sat. Yang's grin disappeared off her face in an instant. "Ow…that hurt."

"You okay?" Yang asked, suddenly sounding like a big sister again.

Ruby growled and looked back up at Yang, "Why do you care? You just killed my soldiers!"

Yang's smirk returned and crossed her arms. "Most of them were probably androids anyway."

"Goodbye my friends, you will be avenged"

"Not until I draw my rewards, which are doubled this round thanks to the Mistral trade route!"

"Bah!"

"Oh, and what's this? The Smugglers of Wind Path?"

"Bah, Bah I say!"

"Looks like I'm taking two cards from your hand!"

"Have you no heart?" Ruby lay her head down on the table and extended her metal hand with her cards out toward Yang. She brought her natural hand up to the spot where the metal one hit her head. Aaron saw the red Rider's lips move and heard some very quiet words in the Ancient Language come out. After a few seconds, her face released its tension.

"Well Weiss, it's your turn." Yang turned and smiled at the heiress. Aaron meanwhile smiled and shook his head. It was good seeing them having a good time, especially Ruby. She'd been so focused on her own work, she barely had time for Cerise. Now, she was acting along with the game. Even though she looked like she was extremely depressed at the moment, there was a spark of happiness in her good eye.

Suddenly Weiss stood up and started giving a speech that Aaron thought would come from pirates. Yang stuck out a hand and said, "Trap card." Weiss stopped speaking and the blonde rearranged the pieces on the board so fast dust filled the air directly above it. "Your armies have been destroyed."

Weiss sat back down. "I hate this game of emotions we play…"

Ruby practically jumped into her partner's lap. "Stay strong Weiss, we'll make it through this together."

Weiss hugged the girl in her lap. "Shut up, don't touch me!" Aaron couldn't help but chuckle at the irony. He turned his attention back to the books in front of him. Jaune got up from his spot at the table and walked over to the rest of team RWBY. It sounded like he wanted to join the game but couldn't. Aaron tried to focus on his reading, but the action at the other table caught his curiosity a little too much. Suddenly Pyrrha shot up and ran to cover Jaune's mouth.

Soon after two more people showed up at the other table. It was the monkey Faunus Sun and the guy with blue hair that was with him on the day of Aaron's initiation. The blue haired guy said something, to which Ren enthusiastically replied, "Thank you!"

Nora snorted once and her head shot up. "Pancakes!" she blurted out. Aaron glanced at Nora for a second. Again he chuckled and tried to return to his reading. Their conversation continued on for a little longer, and Blake left the table alone. Soon after, Jaune took Blake's place at the table, much to Pyrrha's displeasure. Sun and the other guy chose people to root for, and the game was on again.

Once again, Yang sounded like she was in the lead, then out of nowhere, the table erupted in cheers. The blonde leaped out of her chair, knocking it over. "How did you manage to do that?" she demanded.

"Well, you see," Jaune said, ever so smugly. "You were too spread out, attacking Atlas and Vacuo at the same time. It was a simple matter of cutting your supply lines and attacking where you were weakest, your own kingdom."

Yang didn't say anything for a few seconds. "How did _you_ figure that out?"

"You're talking to the three time Arc family champion right now." Yang's shoulders slumped and she righted her chair. She sat back down and crossed her arms, fuming. Jaune turned to the other team leader. "Ruby, I believe it's your turn now."

Ruby chuckled. "I don't care who wins now. Yang lost, that's all that matters."

Yang shot her sister a glare. "I'm right here you know." Ruby just smiled, then looked at her cards. By that point, Aaron figured he wasn't going to get any more reading done. He closed the book and got the stack of three back together.

 _Well, this worked out wonderfully,_ Aaron thought to Nalia.

The dragon hummed her agreement over their mental link. _Ruby needed this, if not all of them._

 _Well, all of them except Blake. Why did she leave?_

 _She has been distant the past few days, even for her. It would probably be wise to figure out what's bothering her sooner rather than later._ Aaron mentally nodded as he put the books back on their spots on the self. As he returned to the table the game was being played at, Ruby was packing up the game.

"Who won?" Aaron asked as he approached the table.

"That would be me," Jaune said confidently. "Minimal casualties after I took command. Vale now rules Remnant."

"To be fair," Yang butted in, "I did knock out pretty much everything Weiss and Ruby had before Jaune stabbed me in the back."

"Keep telling yourself that," Ruby mocked. She tilted her head slightly, then chuckled quietly. It must have been something Cerise said.

"Well, we got to get going," Sun said grabbing blue haired guy's shoulder.

"I'll see you later, Snow Angel," the latter said before Sun dragged him off. Weiss blushed a little bit and Jaune sent a slight glare at the blue haired guy.

Aaron just scratched his head. "Did I miss something somewhere?" he asked.

"Nothing," Jaune said exasperated. "You missed nothing."

"We should probably go find Blake," Weiss said, a little concern in her voice. "I know she's not exactly a social person, but she doesn't just leave while we're doing something."

Ruby shrugged. "She probably just went back to the room. Weren't you guys doing homework when Yang called?"

"We all needed a mental break," Yang stated.

"Says the one who was watching videos on her scroll," Weiss scoffed.

"Well, we _should_ go find Blake," Ruby said before Yang and Weiss could get into an argument.

"Probably for the best," Aaron agreed.

"Well, I'll catch you guys later," Jaune said. Team RWBY started making their way outside, and Aaron could have sworn he heard Ren sigh in relief.

* * *

Ozpin started out of his tower at the three Atlas frigates docked at Beacon. Unlike the _Vytal,_ he saw no reason for this small fleet to be in the Kingdom. Vale wasn't Atlas. There, these warships were an everyday spectacle. Not here. Vale's navy rarely had more than one ship in the area, and certainly never its own aerial corvettes. Yes, Atlas would help defend Vale, but they could very well bring the attack in the first place.

"Ironwood certainly loves bringing his work wherever he travels," Glynda commented beside Ozpin.

"Well, running an academy and a military makes him a very busy man," Ozpin justified. "But yes, those are a bit of an eyesore." A notification of his desk beeped for his attention. Ozpin turned to it, then the elevator. It appeared James was right on time, as usual. "Come in."

The elevator doors opened revealing General James Ironwood. "Ozpin." He spread his arms out to his side.

Ozpin stepped around his desk. "Hello General."

James waved a hand in front of himself. "Please, drop the formalities." The two approached and shook hands. "It's been too long." They separated and James faced the deputy Headmistress. "And Glynda! It has certainly been too long since we last met."

Glynda gave him a half hearted wave. "Oh, James..." She cast an annoyed glance at Opzin. "I'll be outside." Glynda left the two headmasters and walked to the elevator.

"Well she hasn't changed a bit," Jame commented.

Ozpin ignored that last. "So, what in the world has brought you all the way down from Atlas?" Ozpin returned to his desk and filled a second mug with coffee. "Headmasters typically don't travel with their students for the Vytal Festival." He offered the mug to James.

The other headmaster took it. "Well, you know how much I love Vale this time of year. Besides, with you hosting, I thought this might be a good opportunity for us to, catch up."

"I can certainly appreciate quality time between friends." Ozpin sat in his chair and refiled his cup. "However, the small fleet outside my window has me somewhat concerned."

James' smile stayed in place. "I am not the only one with a small fleet anymore."

"Aaron Benson and Nalia are refugees. I have no doubt that if I gave an order they didn't like, they would not follow it. Neither Cerise nor Halcyon are able to fight anything larger than an Ursa consistently."

"Oz," James' smile finally disappeared, "you and I both know why I brought those men."

"We are in a time of peace. Shows of power like this," Ozpin gestured to the frigates outside, "are just going to give off the wrong impression."

James scowled. "But if what Qrow said is true-"

"If what Qrow said is true," Ozpin interrupted, "then we will handle it tactfully. It's the Vytal Festival; a time to celebrate unity and peace. So, I suggest you not scare people by transporting hundreds of soldiers halfway across the continent."

"I'm just being cautious."

"As am I, which is why we will continue to train the best Huntsmen and Huntresses we can."

James brought a hand to his chest. "Believe me, I am." He paused. "I have also seen what one team of yours can do."

Ozpin wondered when this would come up. "You have those reports?"

"I recieved them this morning." James placed his mug back on Ozpin's desk and took his Scroll out of a pocket. "It is quite impressive what they did." He pressed a few buttons.

"Team RWBY found what numerous Huntsmen and Huntresses couldn't." Ozpin nodded. "However, I believe everyone involved would have preferred how the base was found to have gone differently." Another notification appeared on his desk. Ozpin opened the file and inspected the first few paragraphs. "Did any of your medics or technicians question why they must build bionic limbs for a fifteen year old?"

James shook his head. "If they did, they kept it to themselves. They know better than to question a direct order from me."

Ozpin nodded then looked farther down the report. He stopped on a brain scan. On just a quick glance, he knew what it was. Even when it was still in development, he recognized the same paterns from many Huntsmen, policemen, and soldiers alike. Ruby would need counseling, but she would need to come by that decision on her own. "Have her injuries hampered her abilities?"

"I do not have an answer for that. Her Aura readings were well above average during and after her surgeries, but we have nothing to compare it to." James paused. "Does she know what she is?"

"No, and she will not until she turns eighteen, or until she figures it out for herself." Ozpin sighed. "We haven't had a warrior of her strength and skill since her mother. I have to wonder if she will lose any of her spirit because of this event."

"If Ruby Rose is anything like Summer Rose, she will not let this experience keep her down."

"You are forgetting how Summer acted after her first kill." Ozpin switched files. "And your assessment of Aaron Benson and Nalia?"

"Those two had every opportunity to kill anyone at that base, but refrained from doing so. If Tenga is to be believed, these two are the young pair that are seeking refuge." James paused. "And acording to the Chief Medical Officer on the _Vytal,_ Aaron saved the lives of two of my men. That cannot go unsaid."

Ozpin looked through the file on Aaron and Nalia. "But it appears Aaron has trust issues. He believes I had a larger plan for him before we even met."

James blinked. "He's right, isn't he?"

"His and Miss Xiao Long's telepathic abilities helped them find Miss Rose. They could be a valuable asset to find those wishing to harm Ruby...And any who would work against us in the city."

James sighed. "You wish to bring him in?"

"Not entirely." Ozpin closed the file and locked eyes with James. "We believe there is already an agent working against us in the city. This person could be a threat to both the city of Vale, and Atlas forces."

"What are you insinuating?" James raised an eyebrow.

"I believe I read the estimated reward for finding those children and the Nevermore base 'would have been the largest in years had Atlas not found it.' Also, I believe the commanding officer of the military involved would like to speak with the ones that helped save their men."

James crossed his arms and sighed. "I don't like this, Oz. If Aaron has trust issues, he may suspect why I am asking him for this after thanking him."

"Neither do I." Ozpin rose from his chair. "But we must take every advantage we can get. I do hope these moves are unnecessary, but if worse comes to worst, I believe we will be glad we did.

* * *

Almost as soon as the group stepped out of the library, a couple of dragon roars were heard overhead. Ruby looked up and saw Cerise and Halcyon flying toward them. The dragons landed, and each ran over to their Riders. Cerise didn't tackle her Rider as much anymore. She didn't know whether or not the force would injure Ruby further, and she was getting big enough that a tackle would drain too much of Ruby's aura.

Halcyon and Yang, on the other hand, developed their own version. A few days ago, Halcyon tried to tackle Yang, but the blonde caught the charge and it turned into an impromptu wrestling match. Ever since, the two of them wrestled whenever they met up. So far, Yang had won each match, but Halcyon put up a fair fight.

This time was no different. Ruby watched as the dragon charged his Rider. Yang dropped into a defensive stance, ready to take the charge. The two impacted and Yang was forced back several feet. They stood like that for several seconds, trying to get leverage on the other. Halcyon tried something new and stood up on his hind legs. Yang was hoisted into the air due to her grip. The golden dragon stood on the tips of his toes, then leaned forward. If Yang saw what was coming it was too late for her to do anything. Halcyon slammed his Rider into the ground, pinning her.

Cerise huffed her approval while Ruby and Aaron laughed. Halcyon roared in victory, then nuzzled his pinned Rider. Yang playfully forced her dragon's head away. "I just can't win today," she said. The golden dragon backed off Yang and the blonde stood up. She brushed herself off, then smirked at Halcyon. "I guess I finally have some competition."

Halcyon snorted then shook his head. His face didn't change, but Yang's sure did. Her eyes grew wide and her mouth hung open. "Yang, you alright?" Ruby asked slightly concerned.

"Did you just…" Yang whispered, ignoring her sister. Halcyon blinked, and a wide smile grew on Yang's face. She knelt down to look her dragon in the eye and placed a hand on the side of his face. "Say that again." Halcyon huffed in his Rider's face. Yang laughed. "I think we're going to get along just fine." She closed her eyes and placed her forehead against her dragon's snout.

Ruby smiled and locked eyes with Cerise. _I think Halcyon just spoke for the first time._

The red dragon hummed her agreement. _I think you're right. I still wish our time could have been more like this._

 _You and me both._ Ruby rubbed Cerise' snout. Yang stood up, yet kept a hand on Halcyon's head.

"I take it he said something?" Weiss asked.

"Yep!" Yang said with a beaming smile on her face. "He's already picked up my sense of humor."

Weiss sighed and covered her face with a hand. "Not another one." She didn't seem to believe what she said though. Ruby saw her partner trying to hold back a smile behind the hand. She looked around the area some more, and saw that her group was attracting a little too much attention for her liking.

"I hate to break this up," Ruby started, "but people are staring." She subconsciously placed her good arm on her metal one, like somehow that would prevent people from seeing the metal.

"A good idea as any," Aaron agreed, also looking around. Ruby lead the way back to the dorm room with Cerise by her side. Yang and Halcyon lagged behind. Luckily, most students had gotten used to seeing the dragons around campus. Only visitors and a few random students gawked at the dragons as they walked by. The less people to stare at Ruby, the less likely someone would find out about her bionic body parts. While Coco did a nice job making the limbs more full to be like natural ones under clothes, Ruby didn't want to take chances.

She looked at Cerise' front right leg, and immediately felt guilty about hiding her injuries. It had been almost a month since Cerise was attacked by Beowolves, and the scales on her leg hadn't grown back at all. Then there were all the scales that were destroyed after she was shot down. Cerise was now missing nearly half the scales on her belly, and they showed no signs of growing back either. She didn't even care that much. Still, her Rider was worried.

"Aaron, were there dragons in Alagaësia that couldn't grow scales back?" she asked. Cerise turned her attention to the most experienced Rider as well.

Aaron took a few seconds to answer. "There were, but they were few and far in between. They were called 'scaleless.' Applying what I know here, I think it might be genetic problem. Wild scaleless dragons had a much shorter life span due to the fact that their primary defense had so many gaps. A Rider who was bonded to a scaleless just regrew the scales with magic so going into battle wasn't a problem, though they were forbidden from taking mates."

Cerise stopped in place and growled. _Who came up with that idea?_

Aaron turned to the now angry dragon. "It's a centuries old rule, one that I never agreed with." He paused. "I don't think that applies anymore. There are so few dragons left, not even the strictest of elders would restrict you now." Aaron looked at the ground, then kept walking.

The red dragon huffed. _Good. No one can tell me who I can and can't mate with._ Ruby blushed at her dragon's thoughts, then she felt her dragon come across a realization. Cerise turned her head back to the Dragonhouse and drooped her wings. _Oh, he's the only one, and he hasn't hatched yet…_ The red dragon suddenly gave off the feeling of loneliness, a first for the young dragon.

Ruby placed a hand on her dragon's shoulder. _There has to be more eggs back in Alagaësia, or more friendly Riders that survived._ Another thought struck Ruby. _You're just over a month old and you're already thinking about this? I'm fifteen, and I'm not even looking._

Cerise shrugged. _It's instinct._ The two started walking again. Yang and Halcyon had since passed. The blonde turned back to look at Ruby. She raised her eyebrows to ask what was going on. Ruby just shook her head. The older sister shrugged and faced back forward again.

The group arrived at the residence hall. Cerise and Halcyon settled down underneath team RWBY's window while the rest entered the building. Weiss turned back to Yang as they walked through the halls. "Are you two going to end up like Ruby and Cerise?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Yang cocked her head to the side.

"You going to be in and out of our room and the Dragonhouse?"

Yang shrugged. "I guess so. Looks like you and Blake are going to have the room to yourselves a lot more."

Weiss opened the door to their room. "Just don't disappear completely." She entered the room first. Ruby was next and saw Blake sitting on her bed.

"Don't get your hopes up, we'll still be around."

"You at least have a reason to sleep in here," Aaron commented. "I've slept in my room maybe once. Still, it's nice to have in case me and Nalia get in an argument."

"Is that even possible for you two?" Ruby asked in disbelief. She'd never even seen them glare at each other.

"It happens more than you'd think." Aaron said sitting down in a chair. Blake walked past Ruby's vision and toward the door.

"Stop!" Weiss ordered the Faunus. Blake's hand was only inches from the doorknob. "Lately you've been quiet, anti-social, and moody."

"Uh, have you met Blake?" Yang asked jokingly.

"Which I get is kind of your thing," Weiss continued as if she didn't hear Yang, "but you've been doing it more than usual, which quite frankly, is unacceptable. You made a promise to me, to all of us, that you would let us know if something was wrong." A shine appeared in Weiss' eyes. "So, Blake Belladonna! What, is, wrong?" Weiss did a flip in the air and landed on a chair, with a finger pointed at Blake. She then played if off like she just asked the question, putting the chair back in its original place.

Aaron put a hand behind his neck. "You girls worry me sometimes," he mumbled.

Blake closed her eyes, then started speaking. "I just…I don't understand how everyone can be so calm."

Ruby grabbed her metal arm. "The Nevermores aren't a problem anymore. Or not as big of one as they used to be."

"It's not just them, but Torchwick, the White Fang, all of it! Something big is happening and no one's doing anything about it!"

"I have to agree with Blake on this one," Aaron said, suddenly serious. "The White Fang have people watching me every time I go into the city." Everyone else in the room looked at the only guy.

"You not telling us something?" Yang asked.

Aaron shifted in his chair. "I ever tell you what I was really doing in my first two weeks here?"

"You were researching Remnant to try and find a way to fit in," Ruby said, hoping that's all he did.

"I was looking into the White Fang in case they found Cerise' egg. Thankfully they didn't, but a week in one group reported that they found strange animal tracks in the forest that I now realize are dragon feet." Ruby glanced at the window. The White Fang were in the area Cerise was?

"Every time I found a place the White Fang claimed, I sabotaged it in some way, and somewhere along the line they found me out. One time I read somehting that lead me to that apartment building where we officially met. There weren't even any Faunus in the building. Turns out it was just a bomb to kill me, and several other humans in the process."

"Whoa," Yang breathed. "I can see why they wouldn't like you."

Ruby looked at those in the room. She knew what the rest would want to do, but she wasn't sure she could. Weiss started speaking. "Okay, between blowing up night clubs, stopping thieves, and fighting for freedom, I'm sure the four of you think you're already to go out and apprehend these ne'er-do-wells. But let me once again be the voice of reason. We're students. We're not ready to handle this sort of situation."

"Are you forgetting what we did a week and a half ago?" Blake demanded.

"The Nevermores didn't know we were coming. The White Fang, however, are hunting a member of our team, and they will obviously kill anyone who gets in their way."

"So we just hang back and let them get stronger? We may never be ready to take them on. Our enemies aren't just gonna sit around and wait for graduation day! They're out there planning their next move, and none of us know what it is, but it's coming! Whether we're ready or not!"

Ruby hadn't noticed she was slowly taking steps back until she backed into the wall. "I have to partly agree with Weiss on this one," she said. The rest of her team turned to her. "Last time, I got hurt. Trained professionals got _killed._ " She looked up at her team. "Terrorists are a few levels above a criminal organization. Would going in now be suicide?"

Yang's earlier nonchalance was quickly replaced by worry. "Ruby, where is this coming from?"

"You know where," Ruby said as she shrugged her right shoulder.

Blake suddenly looked a little guilty. "If the White Fang had a place that defended in Vale, we would have found out by now, and the police would have shut them down quickly. We won't be dealing with a fortress here."

Ruby nodded and bit her lip. They were going to face the White Fang at some point just because Aaron appeared to be on their hit list. Might as well engage on her terms. "Alright, all those in favor of taking on the White Fang, say Aye." There was very little enthusiasm in her voice.

One by one, every member of team RWBY said 'Aye.' Even Nalia and Cerise contributed. Ruby was about to go on when an unfamiliar mind pressed against her own. _Aye,_ the very masculine voice said.

Everyone in the dorm room apparently heard the voice. Blake looked around, most likely not understanding what she just heard. Yang just smiled. "Well team, that's what Halcyon sounds like," she said.

Weiss looked at her teammate, shocked. "He's two weeks old and he already sounds like an adult?"

"Dragons typically keep the same mental voice throughout life," Aaron stated. "There have been centuries old dragons sounding like children, and it's hard to keep a straight face while talking to them."

Ruby chuckled a little. "I bet." Suddenly Cerise turned very excited and it transferred over Ruby's and her mental link. The Rider turned in the direction of her dragon. "There something going on out there?"

Cerise sent boatloads of excitement to Ruby. _There's someone out here that wants to meet with you and Yang._

Ruby turned to Yang, who was also staring at the window, more than slightly confused. "Well who is it?" the blonde asked.

 _Get out here and see for yourselves!_ Cerise closed the connection between her and Ruby.

"You getting anything out of Halcyon?" Ruby asked Yang.

"Nope. I don't know what Cerise taught or told him, but he's not letting me in."

Ruby sighed. "I guess we better get down there and see who it is." She took a few steps toward the door before stopping. "Oh, I forgot my game in the library."

Weiss sighed behind her. "We're doomed."

"I'll go get the game," Aaron said, "you can just worry about meeting, whoever it is you are." Ruby nodded and the three Riders left the room. Just as Aaron left he bumped into someone else in the hall. "My bad," he apologized.

"Not a problem," the green haired girl said. She did a slight double take then kept on walking, if a little faster than before. Two people followed close behind her.

"Haven't seen them around here before," Ruby commented. "Must be here for the tournament."

"I've seen one of them before," Aaron said as he put a hand in a pocket. He pulled out his wallet and scroll. "Green back there is a pickpocket."

"What?" Ruby turned back and put a hand in her own pocket. She felt her Scroll and small wallet inside.

"Then again, so was I. I'm not one to judge people for that." Aaron put his stuff back in his pocket. "Still, keep an eye on your wallet."

"Do I want to know how you know?" Yang asked, sounding on guard.

"If I'm remembering right, she was the first one _I_ pickpocketed in the city."

The three left the dorm building. Ruby and Yang made their way toward their dragons while Aaron split off and walked in the direction of the library. The dragons came into sight, and Ruby instantly realized why Cerise was so excited. A tall man with blonde hair stood a few feet away from the dragons. He wore a tan shirt and similarly colored cargo pants. A tattoo of two black dragons sat about midway up his right arm. Ruby realized that it just took on a whole new meaning.

"Dad!" Ruby yelled, then started to run. Unfortunately, that was the first time she used her Semblance since getting the new leg. She didn't know if the leg moved too fast or too slow, but it tripped her up. Ruby stumbled at speed and swore she flipped upside down before her dad somehow caught her beneath her shoulders. "Hi," she said playing off her tumble, then she threw her arms around her dad.

Taiyang Xiao Long returned the hug. It was somewhere between comforting and suffocating. "I'm so glad you're okay!" he said.

"Still…need…to…breathe…" Her dad let go and Ruby took a few exaggerated breaths. "I'm fine, you caught me."

Taiyang smiled sadly and put a hand on Ruby's right shoulder. "You know that's not what I meant."

Ruby reluctantly smiled and placed her natural hand on her metal arm. "It could have been much worse."

Yang finally caught up with Ruby. She threw her own arms around Taiyang. "It's good to see you here dad," she said.

"Sorry I couldn't get here sooner." Taiyang said as Yang and he exchanged crushing hugs. "You'd be surprised how hard it is to find an affordable transport to Vale these days."

Halcyon bounded over to the two blondes. He jumped around the two energetically. Taiyang looked at the dragon cautiously while Yang just smiled. "I think he wants to wrestle."

"Wrestle? This little guy? I've taken creeps bigger than him." Halcyon shook his head and snorted. He jumped at Taiyang, who wasn't expecting it, and tackled him to the ground. The two sisters laughed, as did Cerise. "Okay, I take it back," Taiyang said from beneath the dragon.

"You're losing your touch if you were taken down so easily," Ruby said once she could talk again. Halcyon shot the red Rider a glare. "Hey, you can't even take down a Beowolf yet." He growled, but made no move toward Ruby. Halcyon was even more careful around the injured Rider than Cerise.

"Okay Halcyon," Yang stared, "you made your point. Get off my dad." Halcyon complied and took his spot by Yang's side. Yang reached down and scratched at the base of her dragon's head, his favorite spot.

"So dad, what brings you here?" Ruby asked as Cerise settled down by her side.

Taiyang hesitated. "There are some things that can't be said over scrolls or video chat, and I had to see you for myself after all that's happened. Oh, I also brought those tools you asked for." He gestured to a small red box that a few feet away.

Ruby nodded, then looked around. "Can we go somewhere else to talk about this? I don't exactly want people knowing about this yet."

Her dad nodded knowingly. "Lead the way." He picked the box up of the ground. Ruby turned around and started walking back to her dorm room. She hoped Weiss and Blake wouldn't mind. They hadn't met her dad before, and Ruby had no idea how they'd react. Hopefully they all got along at least somewhat well.

Ruby opened the door to her room. Weiss and Blake were sitting on Blake's bed. The heiress looked up at the team leader. "Ruby, I think we've found something," she said.

"Ooh, what is it?" Ruby asked as she walked into the room, her dad right behind her.

Weiss looked at Taiyang surprised. After a few seconds, she shook out of it and answered Ruby. "A Faunus soldier's perspective during the Battle of Fort Castle. It should help with our project."

"Great! One source down and five more to go…" Ruby's enthusiasm dropped all the way through that sentence. There was no project that dealt with that, so she just assumed that Weiss and Blake found something relating to their next mission.

"You didn't tell us you were bringing your guest up here," Blake said, eyeing Taiyang warily.

"We didn't know." Yang closed the door behind her. "Weiss, Blake, meet Ruby's and my dad."

"The name's Taiyang." He offered a hand to the two sitting teammates. Both of them shook it in turn. "I've heard great things about the two of you."

"Hopefully only good things," Blake said jokingly before shooting a glance at Ruby. The team leader gently shook her head, and that seemed to satisfy the secretive Faunus.

Taiyang turned around and looked at Ruby's hanging bed. He scratched his head as he looked at the suspended piece of furniture. "How is that even stable?"

Ruby smirked as she sat down on Weiss' bed. "How do you pack so much into tight spaces?"

Her dad shrugged. "Touché." He sat down to the right of Ruby and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Though it has gotten worse in the past week and a half, extra weight and all that." Ruby shrugged her right shoulder.

Taiyang nodded sadly. "Can I see them?"

Ruby hesitated, then pulled the glove off her metal hand. She also rolled up her sleeve to her shoulder, revealing the entirety of her bionic arm. Next she rolled up the right leg of her tights, but only to the knee. "They aren't much to look at, but they're better than nothing." She winced, suddenly regretting her choice of words. "Literally."

Her dad placed a hand on her metal forearm. "You can't feel this." It wasn't a question.

"Nope." Ruby shook her head. Her dad grabbed her chin and tilted her head up and to the side.

Taiyang looked intently at Ruby's right eye. His shoulders slumped. "You can notice the difference with your eye too."

"That's gotten better," Yang said. "I've looked into this too. Eyes need time to adjust to their host. In a few months, we shouldn't be ab;e to tell unless we're right in her face."

"I am working on geting feeling back in my arm and leg too," Ruby added. "That's coming before I put a gun in either, by the way." Ruby saw two of her teammates across from her adjust how they were sitting.

Yang put a hand on her sister's leg. "If anyone can figure it out, it's you. Just, slow down a little alright."

Ruby looked at Yang's concerned face. At the same time, Cerise sent her own thoughts. _My Gem, listen to your sister. You haven't been sleeping well, and you've been neglecting your studies, not to mention your friends._

The red Rider turned in the direction of her dragon. _'Gem?' Isn't that that what mom…_

Cerise hummed over their mental link. _I believe it is._

Ruby externally sighed. "You're both right."

"Both?" her dad asked, confused.

"Probably Cerise," Yang stated.

"You get the hang of it after spending a few weeks around her," Weiss told Taiyang. "I swear, Ruby and Cerise have about as many silent conversations as ones the rest of us are involved in."

 _You aren't far off,_ Cerise said, most likely including all those in the room.

There was a knock at the door, "You guys in there?" Aaron asked from the other side. "I got the game."

"Door's open," Yang called.

The doorknob turned and Aaron stepped in, the game's box carried in his right arm. "Sorry, I took so long. There was someone…" He stopped as he saw Taiyang. "I don't believe we've met."

"I'm Ruby's and Yang's father." Taiyang stood up and took a few steps toward the newest person in the room. "I'm guessing you're Aaron, the one who saved helped my little girl."

"Daaaad," Ruby moaned. Yang playfully shoved her sister's shoulder. As Ruby shoved Yang back, she caught a glimpse of Weiss and Blake's faces. They weren't trying to hold back laughs like expected, but jealous.

Aaron scratched the back of his head after her shook Taiyang's hand. "I did what I could. Just wish I could have done more."

"Don't worry about it," Ruby said. "I'm fine, and now I can finally beat Yang in arm wrestling."

"Cheater," Yang mumbled.

"Anyway," Aaron said as he set the game down on a bookshelf, "sorry I'm late. There was someone outside the Dragonhouse wanting to talk with a Rider. General Ironwood, I believe it was."

"The general?" Weiss asked confused. "What's he doing here? Headmasters don't travel with their schools to the Vytal Festival."

Aaron shrugged. "I didn't ask. He just wanted to say that he was very impressed about how Nalia handled herself while taking on the Nevermores. Several thugs dropped their guns and ran when they saw her, and those who didn't were taken out quickly. Apparently she has a fear factor that Grimm and those metal-men can't match, and not a single casualty by her claws."

"Not one?" Blake asked for everyone in the room.

"Like I said before we went in, let them rot in jail." Yang looked down at the floor, most likely regretting what she almost did. Ruby put a comforting hand on her sister's shoulder. "He also said something about reward money."

Yang perked up and looked up at Aaron. "I like the sound of that."

"Apparently we got the largest reward in four years," the green Rider continued. "Five-hundred-thousand Lien for the whole team, leaving us one-hundred-thousand each." Ruby saw Yang's jaw practically hit the floor, and the team leader felt butterflies in her stomach.

"One…hundred… _thousand?"_ Blake asked in total disbelief.

" _I've_ never even seen that much Lien," Weiss stated.

"Well that's the upgrades for Bumblebee paid off, and then some," Yang said with a smile on her face. She turned to Ruby. "What do you have to say about this? I figured you'd be bouncing off the walls by now."

Ruby stayed silent while she thought over what Aaron just said. _One-hundred- **thousand?**_ Before she found Cerise, she would have run around the room cheering, maybe even up until she flew her dragon for the first time. Now, she wasn't so sure. She'd seen what she hoped was the worst of humanity. The things they did to those Faunus…Ruby clenched a fist. She didn't need the money. She didn't deserve it. "I don't want to see one Lien out of this."

The room sat silent for a few seconds. "Why?" Weiss finally asked. "This is how Huntsmen and Huntresses get paid."

"Not for this." Ruby fervently shook her head. "For defense against Grimm and petty criminals yes, not saving people from a place like that." She lay her natural hand on her metal arm. "I'm lucky enough to get these bionics, but those Faunus can't replace what they lost. They need that money, not me. It may not replace what they lost, but it's something."

Again, silence reigned in the room. After a few seconds, Yang pulled Ruby into a tight sideways hug. "That's my little sister," she said.

Taiyang again sat down at Ruby's side. "Your mother once said the same thing. She'd be proud of the Huntress you're becoming."

Ruby smiled, then put her metal arm around her dad, pulling him into the hug. Yang and Taiyang started squeezing, creating the infamous Ruby-Xiao Long sandwich. Normally it would have suffocated her, but this time if felt good, and she could breathe normally. _Best support group ever,_ Ruby thought.

Eventually the three separated. "Well, I also planned on taking your team out for lunch," Taiyang said, "if you don't have anything else planned for the day."

Ruby quickly scanned her teammates' faces. All of them wore their own versions of approval. She turned back to her dad. "Shake n Steak?"

"You know it."

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Ruby quickly rolled her sleeve and pant leg back down and put her glove back on. Those sitting down stood up and made for the door. As Ruby passed Aaron, she noted the smile of approval still plastered on his face. She figured it was because she was starting to emulate the Riders back in Alagaësia. There was something else there though that made her want to blush.

* * *

 **Back into Volume II, and plans are being made. To the one who said that it would be nice for Taiyang to show up, you're welcome. I tried to get his personality true to the show, but there isn't a lot to work with. Also, there is a huge difference between the finale and this, a few weeks after the event and no one's dead.**

 **Hope you enjoyed.**


	20. What is Life?

**Um, holy crap, 100,000 word club!... With an asterisk. Take off somewhere between a thousand and five thousand words for authors notes and I'm just short. Next chapter though, this story will for sure be past that milestone.**

 **Now let's get to this. Be prepared for a lot more POV changes than normal.**

* * *

Every member of team RWBY either sat or stood in their main dorm room. No one wore their normal clothes. Ruby had the idea that they shouldn't look like themselves if they were going sneaking around. They all now wore mostly black and white. Of them all, Weiss looked the most normal. Then again, most of her clothes looked the same.

"I thought that class would never end," Blake said as she walked across the room.

"Alright guys, today's the day," Ruby said from her bunk. "The investigation begins!" She jumped down and landed right in front of Weiss.

"I'm glad to see we're taking this so seriously," Weiss mumbled.

"Hey, we've got a plan," Yang chipped in. "That's…moderately serious."

"Levity before a mission is a good thing," Aaron said while straightening his new black hat and sunglasses. "Keeps people from psyching themselves out."

"Right, everyone remember their roles?" Ruby looked to Weiss first.

"You and I will head to the CCT and check the Schnee records for any other Dust robberies, or inconsistencies," the heiress said. "Seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem."

Blake put her hands behind her back. "The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out orders and recruit new members. If I can get in, I can hopefully find out what they're planning."

Yang crossed her arms cockily. "I have an old friend on the shady side of town that typically knows everything going on in Vale. Getting information out of him shouldn't be too hard."

Aaron stood up from his chair. "Nalia, Cerise, and I will be waiting just outside the city in case anything goes wrong. We'll be ready for rapid air support and evac if necessary."

"Great, we'll meet up tonight near Yang to go over what we've found." Ruby stated confidently. She pumped a fist. "Let's do this!"

"Yeah," an unexpected voice said. Ruby turned to the window and saw Sun hanging upside down just outside.

"Sun?" Blake blurted out. All the girl members of team RWBY took a quick and large step back. Aaron just shook his head.

"How did you get up there?" Yang asked, confused.

"Ah it's easy I do it all the time," Sun said with a little shrug.

"You do what?" Weiss exclaimed.

"I climb trees all the time." The heiress gave the monkey Faunus a scowl. Sun jumped in through the window. "So... are we finally getting back at that Torchwick guy?"

Blake stepped forward. " _We_ are going to investigate the situation, as a team."

"Sorry Sun," Ruby spoke up. "We don't want to get friends involved if we don't have to."

"Plus, sometimes smaller operations can go smoother than larger ones," Aaron put out, a little bit of disappointment in his voice.

"Pfft, that's dumb," Sun shrugged off the advice. "You should always get friends involved. The more the merrier, right? That's why I brought Neptune." He pointed a thumb over his shoulder.

Curious, Ruby walked to the window and looked outside. Sure enough, Neptune stood on the small ledge dividing the second and third floors. "'Sup," the blue haired guy said.

"How did you even get up here," Ruby asked.

"I have my ways." Neptune suddenly looked down at the ground. "Seriously though, can I come in? We're like, really high up right now."

Ruby shot a look down at the ground, where Cerise and Halcyon currently lay. _You didn't help with this, did you?_ she asked her dragon. Cerise simply shook her head. The Rider sighed then waved Neptune over. "Come on in, I don't want you falling." Neptune quickly shimmied his was across the ledge and Ruby pulled him in.

Considering the new people, Ruby quickly decided that most people would go in teams of two. "All right. I'll go with Weiss. Sun, you can go with Blake. And Neptune, you can go with Yang since she doesn't have a partner." Ruby physically pushed Neptune over to her sister. "Everyone good?"

"Actually Ruby," Weiss spoke up, "why don't you go with Yang? After all she is your sister."

Ruby finished pushing the statue of a guy and turned back to her partner. "But Weiss, who would go with you then?"

"Well, I guess Neptune could come with me." Weiss' cheeks turned a little red. Aaron smirked behind the heiress.

Ruby thought it over for a second, the laughed. "Nah." She grabbed Weiss' dress and pulled her partner out the door.

"But, but!" Weiss complained. A few feet down the hall, she gave in and started to walk on her own. "Why wouldn't you let me go with Neptune?"

"When was the last time we did something together? Plus, Yang wasn't exactly subtle at that club last time either. I'd rather not have to fight anybody right now if I don't have to. I need more practice with these things." Ruby shook her metal arm.

Weiss paused, then sighed. "True." The partners left the dorm and started making their way toward the CCT in the center of campus. Before they could get far, Cerise came up and nuzzled her Rider's left arm.

 _Be safe out there,_ Ruby told her dragon. _Do whatever Nalia says, and don't attract attention to yourself._

Cerise puffed hot air through her nostrils at her Rider. _I'll be fine. Aaron and Nalia know what they're doing. They act like it anyway._

Ruby smiled, then she heard light roar. Halcyon soon came into view flying over Beacon. _Where's he going?_

 _He's going hunting. Young dragons need to eat._

 _That they do. You should probably get going too._ Cerise turned around and took flight in the direction of the Dragonhouse. Soon after, Weiss and Ruby continued toward the CCT. When they got close, Ruby had a small geek out session. She liked to think of herself as an aspiring engineer, and everything that went into the building excited her.

"The only reason we're here is because you like the tower so much," Weiss said after a little teasing from Ruby. "We could've just as easily made a call from the library."

"I know but it's so cool! Oh! I'm going to take a picture!" Ruby took out her scroll, but it slipped in her metal fingers, even though they were gloved. She tried to catch it, and she ended up flinging it away several feet. It hit the ground hard, and Ruby hoped the screen didn't break. She just got a new one after she lost her first on that beach.

A girl with bright orange hair picked up the scroll and offered it back to Ruby. "You dropped this," she said.

Ruby instantly recognized her. "Penny?" Penny froze up. "Where have you been? We haven't seen you since the night at the docks."

"S-sorry. I think you're confused," Penney said. She hiccupped, and accidentally lobbed the scroll into Ruby's hands. "Uh, I've got to go." She turned around and walked away from the two partners.

"What was that about?" Weiss asked.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out," Ruby confidently said. "You go make your call, I'll catch up with you later." She jogged to catch up with Penny, who thankfully hadn't gotten too far. "Penny! Where have you been? It's been weeks!"

"There seems to be a misunderstanding," Penny said indifferently. She started walking away again.

"What? Penny, is everything okay?" The girl kept walking. Ruby couldn't believe it. This was not the same girl she met all those weeks ago. She hesitantly extended her mind toward Penny's. She did not find what she expected. Her mind was there, open like anyone else's, but there was something…missing from Penny. Ruby couldn't pin it down, but there was a gap where… _something_ should have been.

Still, something was troubling Penny, and Ruby needed to find out what. "Penny, please stop!" She ran up and grabbed Penny's arm. "Look, I don't know what's wrong. But you have to listen to me. Those guys we fought at the docks, we think they're up to something big. Something bad! I need you to tell me what happened to you that night. Please. As a friend."

Penny sighed then looked around herself. She closed the distance between her and Ruby. "It isn't safe to talk here. Meet me at the place we first met in an hour." Again, Penny walked off, but Ruby didn't chase after her. At least now she had a plan.

* * *

Aaron lay beneath Nalia's wing, reading a book on what the people of Remnant called computers. He'd read a lot about history, science, even some mythology, but he hadn't gotten to any of what he considered 'fun' topics. There was so much that he didn't know about what many considered normal lifestyle. Aaron might be in Vale for a while, and he didn't want to stick out any more than he already did.

 _I might just have to get one of these someday,_ he mused to Nalia.

The dragon huffed. _Do what you want. I can't use most of the things here anyway._

 _You can still use my eyes, and we have that projector._ Across the clearing, Cerise turned her neck on the direction of Beacon. A few grumbling and whining noises came from the red dragon. After a few seconds, she settled back down. _Everything alright Cerise?_

 _I'm not sure,_ the young dragon replied. _Ruby met a friend outside the tower, who was acting strangely. She says that her friend's mind was missing something, but couldn't tell what. Both of them are meeting in the city in an hour._

Aaron put down his book, and thought it over. Ruby was technically going against the mission she set forward. In all reality though, she wasn't working against it. Weiss was really the only one needed to make the call to the Schnee Dust Company. After that, their part of the mission was over. Aaron just shrugged. If Ruby's friend needed help, that's where Ruby needed to be.

Nalia laid her head down to look Aaron in the eye. _Have you thought about what General Ironwood said yet?_

The Rider sighed. _Remember when I thought people being less paranoid would be a good thing, I was wrong. People here are too trusting. You'd think a general would take some time before offering us that._

 _It's not like he was offering it for free._

 _But why would he want your scales? It's not like they can do anything to stop Dust rounds._

Nalia huffed. _Are you really comparing my scales to Cerise'? Mine are much more developed. Anyway, I'm more concerned about why he wants a 'sample of my blood.'_

 _You have a point there._ Aaron sighed and leaned back into his dragon's belly. _If I'm remembering right, blood tests here can identify how a person is…constructed. Also, it could determine any…genetic problems._

 _They don't want to make another me, do they?_ Nalia squirmed a little at her own thought.

 _I don't think that's possible…yet anyway._ Aaron paused. _What about this 'Black Queen' he mentioned?_

Nalia growled slightly. _She is a very dangerous person that needs to be stopped. If the general asks for help from those he doesn't know, he must be truly desperate._

 _Well, we do have some advantages that his soldiers don't. Mainly, we can read minds. If the Black Queen is undercover, and has been for a while, we could potentially spot her before anyone else can._

 _Yes, but is it worth being that invasive? If she's good enough to hide for years, can we find her by just glancing over people's emotions?_

Nalia stayed silent for a few seconds. _All that for free flight across Remnant and armor? It would protect us from Dust rounds, and the enhancements the general mentioned would be very useful. Cerise wouldn't lose as many scales either._

 _Highly advanced armor and free flight in exchange for intruding on people's privacy to take out a threat._ Aaron sighed. _I don't like it. If we do this, we have better chances of focusing on the wrong person I don't know how many times until we find the right person. If we don't, we potentially alienate Atlas, and we lose flight area over other parts of Remnant._

 _Not to mention leaving Cerise potentially defenseless._ Nalia looked at the red dragon, who looked like she was trying to take a nap.

 _I really need to teach Ruby how to regrow scales._ Aaron sighed and scratched the back of his head. _When do we need to have our answer to him?_

 _Before the week is out._ Nalia hummed her discomfort. _If the Black Queen is as dangerous as the general says, we may have to fight her someday anyway._

 _So we say yes, and we take the reward when the job's done? That's not what Riders do._

 _But it's what Huntsmen do, and technically you're training to be one._

Aaron sighed. _So, we reject part of who we are as Dragon and Rider, or we severely restrict ourselves along with allowing Cerise to be exposed._ He shook his head. _Either way, we lose something.  
_

* * *

For almost the entirety of the last hour, Ruby tried to figure out what exactly Penny was missing. Somewhere along the way, she gently brushed against the minds of a few other people. They all had everything she came to expect, but the part she sensed in Penny was weaker in most of them. As Ruby passed a few students from Beacon, she went through the same process. The part they had in common with Penny was stronger than most people, and on par with the girl. After a few minutes of thinking and comparing, she decided that it was most likely a person's Aura she was feeling. Still, that didn't answer what Penny was missing. What _could_ be missing?

Unfortunately, the time for thinking was up. Ruby rounded a corner and saw Penny standing stiffly in front of a café. The red Rider put on a smile, then put a hand on the other girl's shoulder. Penny jumped from the unexpected contact and looked at Ruby. Something really had her jumpy. "Walk and talk?" Ruby offered.

Penny nodded. "I'd rather not stay in the same place for long." The two started walking down the street. Ruby didn't say anything, hoping Penny would say what was on her mind. After about a block, Penny finally spoke. "I wish I could help you Ruby. But I don't know anything about those men."

"Well, what happened to you that night?" Ruby asked. "We were all together and then you just disappeared. Were you kidnapped? That's been a real problem recently." Again, Ruby felt like she needed to think about what she said before she said it. She shook her head to hopefully get some of the memories out. Thankfully, Cerise was paying attention and helped keep those awful thoughts out of her head.

"Oh no, nothing like that!" Penny insisted. If she noticed Ruby's reaction, she didn't let on.

"Well then where did you go?" Ruby asked while snapping back into reality.

"I've never been to another kingdom before. My father asked me not to venture out too far, but, oh you have to understand, my father loves me very much. He just worries a lot."

"Believe me, I know the feeling." When Ruby first called her dad after getting back from that place, he was flipping between rage and depression. All of it screamed that he either wanted Ruby to come home immediately, or that he wanted to get a job at Beacon just so he could keep a closer eye on his daughters. Still, she knew he only had good intentions. "But, why not let us know you were okay?"

"I, was asked, not to talk to you. Or Weiss... or Blake... or Yang. Anybody really."

"Was your dad that upset?"

"No, it wasn't my father." The pair started to walk by a small plaza, and there was some type of demonstration going on. Six of the standard AK130 security androids stood in front of two other containers. In between the robot soldiers, a hologram of a man in an Atlas military uniform. It took a second for Ruby to realize that the man was General Ironwood.

The two containers opened up revealing six new robots, which the general referred to as Atlesian Knight 200. Ruby's eyes were fixed on the new robot soldiers. They were so sleek, so clean, and most likely more deadly toward Grimm. The 130s had proved effective against Grimm for years. The 200s must be improved in almost every way.

The general said a few more things that Ruby didn't quite hear because she was so focused on the androids. "Ruby," Penny said cautiously, snapping Ruby's attention from the display, at least temporarily.

"So, our kingdom's greatest minds, in cooperation with the Schnee Dust Company are proud to introduce," General Ironwood stated, "the Atlesian Paladin!" He disappeared and a giant mech took his place. Ruby's eyes widened and she slumped over. She swore she had a little droll coming out the corner of her mouth.

"Whoa," Ruby said out loud. _I want one,_ she told Cerise.

The dragon huffed over their link. _Good luck with that._

"Ruby," Penny said, a little fear in her voice, "Maybe we should go somewhere else..."

Again, Ruby snapped herself out of her trance. She saw some soldiers point at Penny, and start moving in her direction. Soon after, Penny turned around and ran across the street. "Penny? Wait! Where are you going?" Ruby called, but Penny never slowed down. The Rider turned back around and saw the soldiers now running at full tilt.

Ruby turned herself and ran after Penny. _Cerise, I may need an Evac soon._

 _I'm in the air,_ the dragon responded. Ruby chased Penny down several back alleys and across another street, but the soldiers stayed on her tail. Up ahead, the Rider saw a stack of boxes on top of a shoddy wooden platform. She whipped out Crescent Rose and cut one of the legs off the stand. As the boxes fell, she saw the label 'breakable things' on all the boxes. Ruby winced, knowing she just cost someone a lot of money.

Ruby saw another turn off up ahead, but there was no way she was going to catch up with Penny before it if she just ran normally. In a split second decision, Ruby started running on the wall got get an angle at Penny. She used her Semblance to jump off the wall and grab the other girl. "This way," Ruby told Penny. She looked down the alley and searched deep inside herself to get the necessary energy and Aura for what she was about to do. Ruby jumped off the wall again using her Semblance.

The maneuver took a lot out of her though. The two girls fell to the ground sooner than Ruby expected. Penny stayed pretty much where she fell, while Ruby tumbled and rolled out of the alley and into the street. She sat up and rubbed her head where it took a rather nasty hit.

Then Ruby heard something you never want to hear laying in the middle of the road: a truck's horn. She turned around and placed the joints of her metal arm and leg together, hoping all those movie moments where cars just bent around the bionic limbs weren't exaggerations. _RUBY!_ Cerise called, pure panic in her mental voice.

Suddenly Ruby was pushed from the side and out of the path of the truck. She looked up just in time to see Penny get hit by a Dust full force. Instead of just running over Penny, the vehicle completely left the ground, the back end rising over eight feet off the street. The road crumbled beneath the girl's feet, and Penny seemed no worse for wear. The van once again met road, and Ruby stood stunned. "Penny…"

Penny turned her attention to the driver. "Are you okay?" she asked. The driver nodded, and the girl backed away from the van. She looked at Ruby, then her hands. Again, she ran past Ruby and down another alley. The Rider followed after her friend again. She looked back only once and saw the soldiers had reached the crashed van.

A few alleys later, Penny stopped, most likely to catch her breath. Ruby finally caught up with her, and said, "Penny!" The other girl turned to face Ruby. "Why are you running? How did you do that?" She gestured back toward the alley they both came from.

"I-I can't. Everything's fine!" Penny stuttered, right before a hiccup. She hugged herself. "I-I don't want to talk about it." She hiccupped again.

"Penny if you can just tell me what's wrong I can help you."

Penny turned away from Ruby. "No, no no, you wouldn't understand."

Ruby hesitated for just a second. "I've seen and experienced things that most people can't imagine. I can try."

Penny turned back to face Ruby and closed the distance. "You're my friend, right? You promise you're my friend?"

"I promise."

The other girl hesitated. "Ruby," Penny said, then opened up her hands, "I'm not a real girl.

Ruby's eyes grew wide as she looked at several gaps in Penny's skin. Where blood and bone should have been, only metal plates and joints showed. "Oh," was all Ruby could say for several seconds.

 _Ruby!_ Cerise called. The Rider looked up and saw her dragon flying directly overhead. _Are you alright?_ Her concern rolled off her like a river.

 _I'm fine, but now's probably not the time to be flying right overhead._

 _Are those soldiers a problem?_ The dragon growled a little.

 _No, no! I'm sure it's a misunderstanding, just don't be seen flying right overhead._

Cerise huffed, then flew off. _Fine, but you're not leaving my side when we get back to Beacon._

Ruby focused her attention back on Penny. The robot girl was staring up at where Cerise was only moments before. "Don't worry about her, she's with me," Ruby soothed. Penny dropped her gaze and focused back on Ruby. "Now what do you mean you're not a 'real girl'?"

"Most girls are born, but I was made," Penny responded. "I'm the world's first synthetic person capable of generating an aura. I'm not real." The first parts were said with confidence and pride, but all that fell away with the last three words.

Not willing to see someone else going through that kind of pain, Ruby acted. She put her hands over Penny's. As she did, she couldn't help but think how real her 'skin' felt. "Of course you are. You think just because you've got nuts and bolts instead of squishy guts makes you any less real than me?"

"I don't, um..." Penny leaned in closer to Ruby. "You're taking this extraordinarily well."

Ruby freed her hands and took off the glove on her right hand. She also rolled up her sleeve. To her surprise, Penny _didn't_ act surprised. "I'm not exactly one to judge. My right leg and eye are the same. But they still need my mind to run them. You aren't like those empty shells back there. You've got a mind, a heart, and soul. I can feel it."

A smile returned to Penny's face and she placed her hands on Ruby's shoulders. "Oh! Oh Ruby!" She pulled the Rider into a hug that rivaled Yang's. "You're the best friend anyone could have!" Penny shook Ruby from side to side.

"I can see why your father would want to protect such a delicate flower." Ruby was able to get out through the suffocation. Penny let go, and they started having a normal conversation. The android girl talked about her father, and her ties to the Atlas military. She mentioned something about saving the world, but that didn't sit right with Ruby. "Penny, what are you talking about? Save the world from what? We're in a time of peace."

Penny scrunched up her eyes. "That's not what Mr. Ironwood said." Suddenly, voices came from down the alley Ruby and Penny ran down. Penny again put her hands on Ruby's shoulders. "You have to hide!" She forcefully picked up Ruby.

"Gah, Penny! What are you doing? You don't have to go with them. I can help you!" Ruby struggled while Penny walked. After a few seconds, she was thrown into a nearby dumpster. Thankfully, it was mostly empty.

"It's okay Ruby, they're not bad people. I just don't want you to get in trouble. Just promise me you won't tell anyone about my secret."

Ruby nodded. "And you don't tell anyone about mine." Penny closed the dumpster over Ruby's head. The Rider stayed in the dumpster, but opened the top slightly to listen in to what the soldiers and Penny were talking about. Just as the android said, the soldiers were nice people, and they didn't raise their voices at all. They all left the alley together without making a scene.

A rat squeaked in the dumpster. Ruby looked down and saw one nearly crawling on her lap. She let the dumpster cover go and she brushed the animal off. "Slytha," she whispered, and the rat quickly fell asleep.

Ruby sighed, and she tried to piece together what she just learned. Penny was an android that had a soul. That confirmed what Ruby felt before was Aura. If she had to guess now what Penny didn't have, it would be an actual life force. "Note to self," she said, "test life force theory on Grimm." The note appeared in Ruby's vision.

Right after that disappeared, an envelope replaced it in the top right corner of her vision. She blinked to open it, and a text message appeared. It read 'Sorry for assuming, but I know the shortfalls of bionics. I hope this helps. Penny.' Ruby saw an attachment to the text, and opened that as well.

What she saw took her breath away. Ruby covered her mouth and tried to hold back tears. Cerise noticed her Rider's change in mood. _Ruby, what's wrong?_ she asked.

 _Nothing. Nothing at all._ Ruby looked over the schematics intently. It was modeled after a human, and it apparently worked. Penny had a fully functional nervous system, and she just gave Ruby a way to incorporate it into her arm and leg. It was built into a synthetic skin as well.

Ruby couldn't help but smile and laugh. She was easily one step closer to getting her 'normal knees' back.

Cerise hummed over their mental link. _My Gem, I am so happy for you._

 _Thank you._ Ruby closed the text and pulled out her scroll. She began searching the net for the necessary supplies to make it work. The Rider stayed in that dumpster for who knew how long. Eventually she left because her back was starting to ache.

Just as she got out, her scroll rang with Blake's ringtone. Ruby hit the answer button. "Everyone! If you can hear me we need back-"

"HEEELLLPPP!" Sun interrupted. "They got a robot, and it's big, really big!"

That was enough for Ruby. _Cerise, now I need that pickup.  
_

* * *

Aaron jumped into his dragon's saddle, and Nalia leaped into the air soon after. The green dragon angled toward Blake's and Sun's last known position. _You ready to take on whatever this big robot is?_ Aaron asked.

 _There's nothing on land that can out speed me,_ the cocky dragon replied, _especially not one of those walking pieces of metal._

The Rider smirked then cast his mind out ahead. He instantly found Blake and Sun, and there was only one hostile person directly behind them. Aaron then searched back to where the White Fang meeting took place. Several of the terrorists were planning to pursue. Aaron tightened this grip on Redemption. _Drop me off by the White Fang. I'll take them out._

 _Are you sure? There's hordes of them down there._

 _There are only five that are going to give chase. The rest are running. I'm sure I can handle that many._ Nalia nodded, then flew with all possible speed toward the White Fang's warehouse. As they approached, Aaron saw a large crowd of people running from the building. Some of them wore the standard grunt uniform, but most were in regular clothes.

Nalia flipped upside down, and Aaron jumped out of the saddle. He flipped around in the air and landed hard on his feet. His knees bent almost to the ground. The Rider slowly stood up and drew his sword. The five White Fang soldiers that were planning to pursue Blake and Sun drew their own weapons and aimed them at Aaron.

No one moved a muscle. Aaron could feel the tension in the air. The soldiers would fire their weapons at the slightest move the Rider made. "I cannot allow you to leave this place," Aaron said, still not raising his sword.

One of the soldiers laughed. "You and what army?"

"Underestimating your opponent is a sure way to get killed." Aaron took his own advice and sized up his opponents. They all carried assault rifles and had them aimed at the Rider. Assorted melee weapons were attached at their hips or across their backs. Only two of them appeared physically fit enough to prove a slight challenge when Aaron got in close. One member of the five was young, and his rifle was shaking. He was likely to flee when fighting inevitably broke out.

The young soldier lowered his weapon slightly. "Wait, you're one of the ones who took out that Nevermore warehouse," he said, stuttering. "Whose side are you on anyway?" His voice cracked halfway through.

"I'm on the side of the innocent, I don't care what race they are."

Another soldier spoke up. "There are no innocent humans. They're all the same!"

Aaron narrowed his eyes at the man, and called back a news report he heard during his first week in Vale. "That car bomb near a public park? How many children did you kill that day? How many families did you tear apart?"

The youngest Faunus froze in place, while the others tightened their grip on their weapons. "You're. All. The. Same," the first soldier who spoke said, right before he pulled the trigger.

Luckily Aaron was in that soldier's mind and saw where he was aiming. He dodged out of the bullet's path and finally rose Redemption. "Agree to disagree." He charged straight toward the firing line, through five streams of bullets. His wards against Dust drained rapidly, but they were enough. Sometimes appearing invincible was enough to drain an opponent's morale.

Aaron was in full combat mode now. Training took over. Once the bullets started flying, there was no time for magic. He reached melee range and swung at the soldier on the right end of the formation. The Faunus' armor proved useless as Redemption cut right through it and the man's Aura, if he had any. The sword came out more red than when it went in. The Rider heard the distinct sound of a sword being drawn to his left and swung in that direction. The soldier barely managed to get his weapon up to block, and even then he was almost cut by his own blade.

The Rider heard and felt more bullets being fired behind him. The wards specifically cast to deal with Dust failed, leaving him to rely only on is untested Aura. Aaron disengaged from the swordsman and turned on the honorless Faunus. He cut the weapon in half, then shoved the pommel of Redemption into the soldier's face. The Faunus' nose broke, with other fractures and breaks likely. He slumped to the ground and didn't move.

Aaron turned back around and saw the swordsman from before standing beside a soldier with a battleax. Both attacked the Rider at the same time, but their coordination was off. They attacked roughly the same spot instead of dividing their attacks. Aaron was easily able to block both strikes. He drew back Redemption and jumped to the left. The swordsman was now isolated.

The Rider swiftly attacked the soldier. The Faunus clearly wasn't experienced. He was slow and blocking at all the wrong angles. His positioning left him open to attack more often than not. After a short skirmish, Aaron deflected a clumsy strike, then slashed the soldier across the chest. He screamed and fell to the ground.

The axe man roared in rage and swung his weapon at Aaron. The strike was stronger than Aaron expected, but not even close to the strength of some of the dwarves he sparred with. The soldier was faster though, and for the first time the Rider was forced to defend himself from repeated blows. However, he had a similar problem to Ruby: he focused too much on attack and he didn't defend himself. Aaron sidestepped a particularly vicious blow and stabbed the soldier through the gut.

Aaron withdrew his sword and looked at the last soldier standing. His rifle and sword were laying on the ground. The youngest White Fang soldier was slowly taking steps backward. "You _are_ all the same," he said, then he turned and ran.

As Aaron's adrenaline rush wore off, he looked at his sword. He froze. Not only was there blood on the blade, but on the pommel, and his hands. He looked down at the ground. Four Faunus lay unmoving on the ground. While trying to take a breath, Aaron stretched his mind out to those on the ground. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Four more people he killed.

Four more lives he stole.

 _Aaron, don't do it!_ Nalia called. Aaron ignored his dragon. She had less blood on her claws than he did. She was a dragon. They weren't supposed to care as much. They had to kill to eat. Aaron though, hated it. He hated that people killed each other all the time. He hated that killing was sometimes necessary to save others. He hated that he stole the lives of so many people.

 _Aaron snap out of it! You don't have to do this!_ Nalia cried, again ignored by her Rider. Aaron faced the first Faunus he killed. He didn't care if the man was a terrorist. Even they had a family, friends. Everyone had people that would miss them if they died.

 _Listen to me Aaron! Don't make the same mistake again!_ Nalia was growing frantic, but Aaron still ignored his dragon. With a few words, he removed all the blood from his sword and otherwise cleansed it. He sheathed Redemption and reached into his jacket. When he withdrew it, a knife rested in his hand. The only blade that had ever tasted his blood.

 _Aaron, PLEASE!_ Nalia wailed, and Aaron completely shut her out right afterward.

He looked straight at the face of the first Faunus he killed. "I'm sorry," he said, then he rolled up the left side sleeves of his jacket and T-shirt. Fourteen scars were revealed, and Aaron proceeded to add four more.

* * *

"Well, that was something," Ruby said as her team left the city.

"Aura or not, I'm going to be feeling that in the morning," Yang said as she leaned backward, most likely trying to crack her back. "I'd rather not be hit through another concrete pillar any time soon."

"Either of you know why Nalia flew off like that right as she got there?" Weiss asked.

Ruby thought back to that moment. "She seemed pretty spooked by something…Cerise, you get anything else?"

 _If I got anything out of her before she shut me out,_ Cerise started, _she was scared, but not for herself._

"Aaron? I'm sure he can take care of himself." Yang rolled her shoulders out as she talked.

"Judging by the direction Nalia flew," Blake finally spoke up, "Aaron might have been facing a lot of White Fang."

"What did you see there anyway?" the team leader asked. Blake went on to describe the meeting Sun and she attended. Torchwick was there, and apparently his involvement with the White Fang was bigger than anticipated. Also, the criminal made it sound like there were even more hostile Paladins out there. One was hard enough to take down, what if there were many at the same time? Again, Ruby wished she had access to one of those things, now to know how to take them apart.

"How does Miss Umbrella fit into this?" Yang asked no one in particular.

Blake saw fit to answer. "She was at the meeting as well. Didn't say anything there either."

"Back to the fight," Weiss changed the subject, "I think the team attacks worked out fairly well for the first time out in the field."

"They could be better though," Ruby said, going back into leader mode. "We took a few unnecessary hits in there." She then took most of the rest of the walk back to Beacon to go over missteps and mistakes. Everyone's mistakes were noted, even her own. She really needed to get some more training with her bionic limbs. Weiss, of course, payed extremely close attention to everything Ruby said. Yang switched between working her back and listening, but that was only when she was the focus. Blake seemed to be in her own little world, only nodding occasionally.

After Ruby exhausted all of her suggestions, she started thinking about adding some new team attacks. Aaron needed to be included somehow. The dragons could participate too, but soon they would be the size of Ursa Majors soon enough, and close coordination would prove to be impossible. They could work together, but not exactly side by side with the smaller members of the team. Maybe Aaron and Nalia could come up with something.

After several minutes of walking and talking with the team, Ruby began to feel the strain in her natural leg. It had been a long day of running and fighting. Thankfully, Beacon's gates came into view.

"I forgot how long this road was," Ruby complained.

"Getting too used to riding Cerise?" Weiss asked, a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Come on Ruby, you can't be that out of touch yet," Yang teased.

"Trust me Yang, when you get up there with Halcyon, you'll want to fly everywhere with him too." Ruby smiled up at her sister.

 _The air is so free, you'll love it up here,_ Cerise chipped in from right above the four teammates. _I believe you want to go skydiving as well. You can't do that from the ground._

"I'm still mad at the both of you for that." Yang glared at Ruby.

The younger sister laughed then turned to Blake. "You still awake Blake? You haven't said anything for a while."

The Faunus shook her head like she _was_ shaking off sleep. "I told you what I saw at the meeting right?"

"Yeah, but that's it," Weiss commented. "You aren't the biggest talker, but you're being quiet, even for you." Blake just looked away and said nothing.

Ruby exchanged glances with Yang and Weiss, then sighed. They weren't going to get anything out of Blake tonight. The four entered Beacon's campus and made their way to the Dragonhouse. Cerise landed right outside. The main door of the Dragonhouse opened.

Soon after, Nalia landed right beside Cerise. Aaron slowly climbed out of the saddle. Ruby could tell right away something was off. "Everything go alright on your end?" she asked.

Aaron barely looked up from the ground. "Everything went smoothly," he said. His tone suggested the opposite. Nalia moved her head right by her Rider's and the two walked slowly into the Dragonhouse together.

Ruby watched the two confused, and a little scared. Cerise and she were like that for a few days after she was rescued. Did something happen to Aaron? He wasn't limping, but Nalia did nudge his left arm a few times with her snout.

Nalia's head suddenly shot up and looked at the far end of the Dragonhouse. She crossed the distance in two bounds. Cerise looked in that direction as well, and her wings drooped. _No…_ she thought.

Ruby looked at her dragon, then sent her mind over to the spot where Nalia and Cerise were looking. It took her a few seconds to realize that was the spot where Aaron found a weak spot in the concrete and buried the last egg in the floor to protect it.

It took her a few seconds more to figure out there was nothing there. The mind of the dragon in the egg was nowhere to be found.

Ruby sprinted to the spot, leaving rose petals in her wake. She knelt down by the hole in the floor and looked inside, hoping to see egg shells nestled in a repurposed saddlebag. To her dismay, there was only dirt in the hole.

A growl started behind Ruby. She turned around to see Nalia snarling, her pupils no more than slits. She radiated anger and hatred. Her growl slowly grew louder and louder. Suddenly pointed her head to the ceiling and roared. Ruby covered her ears and leaned away from the roar, hoping that would help. The roar stopped and Nalia rapidly turned around. She bounded out of the Dragonhouse and took flight.

When the enraged dragon was out of sight, Ruby took her hands off her ears, expecting to see blood on the gloves. Luckily, there was none, but she still couldn't hear a thing. She looked back at the entrance and saw most of her team running toward her. Cerise was nowhere in sight. Ruby tried to find her with her mind, but met a solid wall.

Yang slid to a stop beside Ruby and put her hands on her sister's shoulders. Her lips moved, but Ruby couldn't hear a thing. The younger sister just shook her head and pointed to an ear. _What happened?_ Yang asked with her mind.

 _The egg's gone,_ Ruby responded. Yang's eyes widened and she looked into the hole. She stood up, and her lips and eyelids trembled. Her eyes flashed red for a second, then she fired a shell from Ember Celica into the hole. She stormed away, past a very shocked Weiss and Blake.

Ruby searched the Dragonhouse for Aaron, and saw him kneeling on the floor his head hung. She got up from where she was sitting and ran over to the other Rider. "Aaron, what do we do?" she asked, or at least that's what she hoped she was saying.

Aaron looked up at Ruby with a thousand yard stare. _We can't do anything until our dragons calm down._ He slowly stood up and walked away, leaving Ruby standing alone. She looked back at Weiss and Blake who were standing in the same place as before. They looked like they wanted to help, but what could they do? They might know that the egg was the last one, but they didn't know what that meant to the dragons. Ruby didn't even pretend to know. The only ones that knew were either off sulking or raging.

Ruby hung her head in defeat. _So much for ending the day on a high note._

* * *

 **Looks like the crap has hit the fan again…Anyone else hear that glass break?**

 **To those of you thinking that Ruby getting the schematics from Penny was too easy: One, you're probably right. Two: it would have happened eventually, and it will still take a while. Three: It still won't be completely easy. She has the mechanical prats, but she's missing a key part. Four: Ruby would want to keep the metal covered up at the dance, and I'm not exactly a fashion expert. I'm a jeans and whatever is first in the closet kind of guy. I don't know how women are supposed to dress for dances.**

 **Also, I'd like your help with something. I already have solid ship names…I mean team attack names for Aaron and Ruby and Aaron and Yang, a shaky one for Aaron and Weiss, but I've got no clue for Aaron and Blake. They won't come up for a while, but it would be nice to have going forward.**


	21. Falling Apart

**Now, I can say I'm a true member of the 100,000 word club. To put this in perspective, I don't think this is halfway through yet. We haven't even gotten halfway through Volume II. I'm guessing this story will end somewhere around 250,000 by the time it's finished. This is just a guess though.**

 **A few people now have asked me on the pronunciation of Cerise. Technically, it's pronounced sir-REASE, but for the longest time I've read and wrote it as SAIR-rease. I Understand either.**

 **Now, back to Beacon.**

* * *

Ruby woke up and nearly hit her head on the ceiling from sitting up so fast. She breathed hard and heavy, and her entire body shook uncontrollably. When she finally regained control of her limbs, she brought her legs up to her chest and hugged them. The Rider stretched out her mind to find Cerise, but all she felt was a wall of anger and sadness.

Someone else brushed against her mind. _Ruby, you okay?_ The young girl turned to see Yang propped up on her elbows on top of her own bed.

 _Not really,_ Ruby sent back. _I saw them all again…_

Even in the dark, Ruby could see Yang's eyes soften. _Sorry, you wouldn't have wanted me in your head tonight anyway. My heads not in the right spot after all that happened yesterday._

 _Why are you awake now anyway?_

Yang lay her head back on her pillow. _Cerise attacked Halcyon not too long ago._

 _What?_ Ruby was so shocked, she almost said it out loud. Weiss and Blake didn't need to hear what was going on. Again, Ruby tried to reach her dragon, but got the same result as before. _Does he know why?_

 _Cerise blames him for the egg being stolen._ Yang shuddered. _He blames himself too. When he returned from hunting, the egg was already gone._

 _Is he okay?_

 _He says not to worry about it; it's just a scratch. But…I felt it._ Yang grabbed her left arm. _I still feel it. It's worse than he's letting on._

Ruby grew confused. _Why didn't I feel anything? Halcyon had to do something to her._

 _He didn't fight back._ Yang closed her eyes. _He said he couldn't hurt family._

Ruby skipped a breath, then looked down at her legs. _I'm sorry Cerise attacked Halcyon._

 _Don't be. From what I'm getting from Halcyon, dragons value eggs almost as much as they value their Riders. You know how much they love us better than I do. I almost went off the deep end when you went missing._ Yang paused in her thoughts. _How long do you think Cerise is going to be like that?_

 _I don't know,_ Ruby looked out the window. _I've never seen her like this before. How was she when I was, you know…_

 _She was injured and exhausted. I don't think she was capable of doing anything more than flinging that scientist guy into another building. But she did try to fly after you._

Ruby tightened her grip around her legs. _I can't say I'm sorry he's gone._ She stayed silent as she fought back memories of that prison. Soon after, Yang stepped up to help fight them off. Just by helping fend off the nightmares the past two weeks, she knew as much about Ruby's time in captivity as Cerise. The only downside Ruby saw was that Yang turned a little more protective than usual.

 _Maybe we should try and get some sleep,_ Yang suggested. _I have a feeling our Halcyon and Cerise will need us in the morning._

 _Don't go too far._ Ruby lay back down in her bed. _I don't want to see any of that again._ She closed her eyes. As she finally drifted off to sleep, she felt Yang's mind close by to help fend off the nightmares for yet another night.

* * *

Yang stretched in the center of team RWBY's room. No matter what she did though, she couldn't get that kink out of her back. "Hey Ruby, could you give me a hand here?" she asked her little sister.

Ruby turned around from her dresser and smirked. "Sure." She gripped her bionic hand and sharply twisted it to the right. The hand popped off, and Ruby underhanded the detached appendage to Yang. The blonde barely caught it, and stared at the hand with a mixture of discomfort and pride.

"You've been waiting to do that for a while, haven't you?" Weiss asked from her bed.

"Yep. Found that out by accident four days ago. Scared me for a few seconds, but then I saw it easily snaps back in."

"Modular?" Yang asked as she tossed the hand back.

"Makes sense. I won't stay the same size forever, and that makes upgrading easier." Ruby smirked as she reattached her hand. "It'll also make it easier to put a gun in this thing later on. Now where exactly is that knot in your back?"

Yang turned around and placed a hand about halfway up her back and slightly to the right. "About here."

"Okay, hold still." About a second later, Yang felt a fist slam into her back, and she could hear as well as feel her back crack. She breathed a sigh of relief and gave Ruby a thumbs up. "Try not to get slammed into any more concrete support columns."

"I'll try to keep that in mind." Yang heard the door to their room open, then close. She looked around the room, and saw that the Faunus member of the team was the only one unaccounted for. "Anyone know where Blake's going?"

"Breakfast?" Ruby chipped in, though unconfident.

"You're the only one to eat breakfast here, Ruby," Weiss said.

"True…Maybe she's going to look up what she found yesterday?"

"That would make sense," Yang mused. "She is the book worm."

 _Yang,_ Halcyon called, _I come home._

His Rider turned in the direction of the thoughts. _I think you mean 'I'm coming home.' How's your leg?_

Halcyon sent sad thoughts, and stopped holding his pain back. _More bad I thought._

Yang grabbed her left arm and winced. _Get to the Dragonhouse and I'll see what I can do._ She sighed and turned to Ruby. "Cerise still blocking you?"

Ruby's smile disappeared off her face. "Yeah, but her defenses aren't as strong as they were last night. I think she's coming out of it."

"If they're going this crazy because an egg was stolen," Weiss began, "I really don't want to see them if one of you gets hurt, for multiple reasons."

"You and me both." Ruby hugged herself. "I just can't imagine Cerise attacking anyone, even with some of the things she's said recently."

"I'm going to go meet Halcyon at the Dragonhouse," Yang said heading for the door. "Hopefully find out what really happened last night."

"You know how badly Halcyon's injured?" Ruby asked.

"Injured?" Weiss asked surprised. Ruby winced, most likely forgetting that Weiss didn't know exactly what happened.

"I'm guessing broken leg." Yang grabbed her corresponding arm.

"What happened?" Weiss cut in again, her voice dripping with concern.

Yang and Ruby locked eyes for a second, then Yang looked at Weiss. "He was searching for the egg and he landed too fast at just the wrong angle on a rock."

Weiss sighed and shook her head. "I guess he is only a few weeks old. Still a lot to learn."

"I should probably come along too," Ruby said, putting a hand behind her neck. "Be there when Cerise gets back and all that."

Yang nodded. "I could probably use help on Halcyon's leg anyway." The two sisters left their room and made their way toward the exit. Ruby stopped right outside Aaron's room though. "Ruby, I think he just needs some time. I can guarantee you he took the theft harder than we did."

"It wasn't just that," Ruby said as she started walking again. "He was acting strangely before we knew the egg was gone. Something happened when he was facing the White Fang, but I have no idea what."

"When in doubt, turn to the news. A giant robot rampaging around Vale and a partial highway collapse had to have media interest."

"Wouldn't that take _all_ the interest?"

"That robot had to come from somewhere." The two sisters exited their dorm building, and Yang saw Halcyon flying low near the Dragonhouse, most likely wanting to land. As he started to descend, Yang sped up her pace. She didn't care if her dragon's leg was just bruised, it would hurt when he touched down, even if it didn't touch down first.

Yang reached Halcyon right before he touched down. She caught his left side on her shoulder. _I got you. Let's get you inside, I'll work on your leg there._

 _Thank you,_ Halcyon said, relieved. Yang quickly realized that carrying and injured dragon was not the easiest thing to do. Then again, if Ruby did it nearly a month ago, she could too. They made it inside the Dragonhouse and the main door closed behind them. Yang gently set Halcyon down on his belly, then looked at the injured leg.

It wasn't an obvious break, but the leg was not completely straight where it should have been. Yang gently put a hand on the injury and got to work. Halcyon squirmed in discomfort, but managed to keep his leg still. Slowly but surely, the bone came back together. When Yang was done, Halcyon hummed and nuzzled his Rider's face.

"You should take some lessons from Ruby," Yang said while scratching the base of Halcyon's head. "Don't get your sister mad. It doesn't end well."

"I don't think Cerise gets stronger as she gets angrier," Ruby chipped in behind Yang. The older sister turned around to face the younger. "You didn't need my help with his leg, by the way. You did just fine."

"Thanks." Yang turned back to Halcyon. "Can you put your weight on it?" The golden dragon stood up on all fours. He took a few steps on the injured leg, and even put his full forward weight on the leg. Halcyon turned back to Yang, a gleam in his eyes. The blonde knew what was coming, and braced herself for the coming charge.

Before Halcyon could jump, the main door to the Dragonhouse opened. Yang turned back and saw four red legs come into view on the other side. Without really knowing what she was doing, Yang stood up and placed herself directly between the two dragons. Even though she hoped Cerise had calmed down, the blonde Rider wasn't taking any chances. The red dragon would have to go through her to get to Halcyon.

"Cerise!" Ruby yelled. She ran to her dragon, leaving rose petals behind her. The pair connected, but the more massive dragon didn't move an inch. Cerise instead curled her neck around her Rider. There was no trace of the anger she showed yesterday.

After a few moments the pair left each other's grasp and Cerise took a few steps toward Yang and Halcyon. Yang stiffened up, but kept her fists unclenched. The red dragon looked past Yang, most likely at her younger brother. The two had a conversation that neither of their Riders were a part of. Not too far into the conversation, Halcyon hummed and practically pranced to his sister. The two dragons intertwined their necks and hummed together. Yang released a breath she didn't know she was holding. The two dragons made up. That's all that mattered.

"One big happy family," Yang said with a smile on her face. The two dragons freed their necks, then instantly turned on their Riders. Halcyon jumped at Yang while she wasn't prepared. She was easily tackled to the ground. "Cheater." Yang playfully pushed Halcyon's head to the side. The golden dragon hummed and licked Yang's face. He backed off his Rider and Yang stood up. She looked over to Cerise and saw Ruby pinned in a similar way.

Unlike Yang and Halcyon, Ruby and Cerise stayed on the ground for a while. Ruby kept rubbing her dragon's neck, and Cerise continually nuzzled her Rider's face with her snout, with her tongue occasionally flicking out as well. They never broke eye contact. They had to be talking inside each other's heads. Cerise' eyes were begging for forgiveness, in complete contrast from Ruby's understanding.

After about a minute, Cerise backed off her Rider. Ruby stood up, but still kept her natural hand on Cerise' head. She looked over at Yang and narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Yang didn't realize how much she was smiling. "It's just the way that you look at Cerise. There's something going on there."

Ruby blushed and slightly looked away. "You should know. Or, you will anyway."

Yang nodded. "That day can't come soon enough."

* * *

Ruby traced one of the gaps in Cerise' scales. She accidentally brushed her fingertip against actual skin, and Cerise immediately pulled away. _Be careful, that tickles!_ the dragon scolded.

Normally, Ruby would take that as an invitation. Now, she had other thoughts on her mind. _I'm more worried about something making its way through the gaps. You're missing so many, it won't be hard for a regular arrow to find skin._

Cerise hummed sadly then nudged her Rider. _You can protect me with wards. I'm not defenseless._

 _Remember how quickly we were shot out of the sky? I can't protect you from Dust rounds, and they tear right through your scales._ Ruby paused. _I could try unlocking your Aura._

Cerise turned to her Rider. _Is that even possible?_

 _I don't know,_ Ruby said, _but we'll never know until we try. Zwei has at least some access to his._

 _Do you even know how it's done?_

Ruby hesitated. _It just sort of happened for me, and Pyrrha can use her Aura to unlock another's. Aaron said he pulled his out using his mind during his initiation. Even if you just get the protection, you will be safe from Dust rounds._ She turned to her sister. "Hey Yang, I'm going to try something with Cerise. Could you make sure there's no distractions?"

Yang nodded. "May I ask what you're up to?"

"I'm going to try and unlock her Aura. Worth a shot, right?"

Yang's eyes widened. "Oh. I'll let you get to it."

Ruby locked eyes with Cerise. _You ready?_ The dragon just blinked. Ruby placed her natural hand on the side of her dragon's face, then closed her eyes and stretched her mind over to Cerise, and deeper into herself. She felt her dragon doing the same thing. Truth be told, she didn't know where to look for untouched Aura, or even what it felt like. Ruby was grasping at straws, and she knew it. She knew this could very well be the first session of many. Still, there was the small chance that she would be successful.

Ruby thought back to how Penny's mind felt. As far as she knew, Penny only had Aura, not a life force. She still had to test that theory on a Grimm, but there might be enough of a distinction in the two to make a connection.

At first, Ruby focused on finding where her own Aura was 'stored' in herself. If she had a place to look for in Cerise, it would speed up the whole process. She started looking at the cliché areas: her heart and her own head. As expected, she found nothing. Next she tried the literal center of herself. Again, Ruby felt nothing other than what she normally felt in herself and others with unlocked Aura. It seemed Cerise came to the same conclusion.

After Ruby ran out of ideas for searching in herself, she turned her attention to her dragon. Again she searched the expected areas, and again found nothing. Ruby broadened her search to include the entirety of her dragon. Still, there was nothing.

Except…there was. Something in Cerise felt like a concentrated ball of Aura. It was so compacted Ruby wasn't surprised she missed it on in her search. She 'prodded' it, and got an immediate pushback. Cerise radiated her surprise, and she focused her attention on the spot as well. _Is this it?_ the dragon asked.

 _Only one way to find out,_ Ruby responded. Both dragon and Rider focused their minds on the small Aura ball. They tried unlocking it the way Aaron described, by pulling on it. Stubbornly, the ball stayed intact. Ruby tried using some of her own Aura. She felt like it was doing something, but the ball stayed shut.

Without warning, the Aura ball gave way. Ruby's mind was forced back into her own head. She physically fell backward and Cerise yelped. For a second, Ruby thought she did something that may have injured her dragon. Then she saw the faint red glow around Cerise. The dragon's eyes were wide, her whole body tense. As the glow faded, so did the tension she built up.

Yang was immediately by Ruby's side. "Did you do it?" she asked.

Ruby stretched her mind out to Cerise once again. The feeling she associated with Aura was much stronger. "I think so," she said. "I just don't remember it being that violent."

Cerise blinked her eyes and shook her head. _Everything feels…different,_ she said, bewildered. _There's something more to everything._

Ruby narrowed her eyes in confusion. "What do you mean?"

 _I believe I can help with that,_ another voice said. Ruby turned to the source and saw Nalia laying on the floor in her normal spot.

"When did you get here?" Ruby asked. She honestly had no idea the large dragon entered the building.

Nalia smirked. _A dragon can be quiet if she wants to be._

"About five minutes ago," Yang answered. "You were too focused on Cerise to notice."

 _Back to your question,_ Nalia continued, _as best as Aaron and I can tell, you need to have your Aura unlocked to sense it in others. Aaron noticed it right after he had his unlocked during his initiation. I believe Cerise is feeling another's Aura for the first time._

"That explains one thing," Ruby stated before she turned to Yang, "but why was there such a strong reaction on both of us?"

Yang scratched her head. "Either it was premature, which is very likely in all honesty, or unlocking Aura is different for dragons. Those are just guesses, Pyrrha's probably the better person to ask."

Ruby nodded, then thought back to how she was forced onto her back by an unseen force. It reminded her of something she did back when she was kidnapped. It was hazy, but clearer than anything on the other side. "Nalia, is it possible to use magic without the Ancient Language?" she asked.

Nalia's face grew serious. _Something tells me you already know the answer._

"Back when I was…in that place, I think I did something to their boss twice." Ruby felt a firm yet comforting arm fell across her shoulders. Yang gently squeezed, telling her sister she was there if needed. "The first time came right after he said that he was going to have Cerise skinned. I can't explain exactly what happened, but I got angry, and then a whirlwind started up in the room. The guy flew across the room, and I felt even more drained than I did before." Ruby involuntarily shivered as she remembered what happened next. Cerise hummed and moved her head into her Rider's lap.

"The other time was right before Yang found me. Their boss was about to take…I believe it was Claret, out of the room to take her to her new…" Ruby grimaced, "owner. I couldn't let that happen, and the whirlwind came back." Yang pulled Ruby in closer. The younger sister looked to the older but Yang wouldn't meet her eyes. Ruby swore she saw tears forming.

 _What you are asking is possible,_ Nalia said after a few seconds, _but possibly one of the most_ _dangerous parts of magic. If you're mind wanders at all during the casting, you could alter the spell, and very well kill yourself. It's a wonder you survived that once, let alone cast the same spell twice._

Ruby hugged herself, then shivered. "Well, I didn't, and everyone got out of there. Apparently they all needed it."

"Just try not to do it again," Yang said, finally looking at Ruby.

"I'm not even sure how I did it. It just sort of, happened."

Cerise lifted her head and looked her Rider in the eyes. _You're strong, my Gem. We can get through this._

Ruby looked away. _Just as soon as the memories stop coming back._

The red dragon's wings drooped. _I don't think they ever go away. I still see those Grimm that attacked me._ Ruby again locked eyes with Cerise, more than a little concerned. Even though dragons matured way faster than people, Cerise was just over a month old. An attack like that was going to stick with her for a long time.

 _I don't dwell on it though,_ Cerise continued. _Those Grimm are dead. They can't hurt me or anyone else anymore. The people that hurt you aren't a threat anymore either. They are behind bars, and aren't likely to see the light of day for a long time._

Ruby lay her forehead on Cerise snout. _But there's more of them out there. Grimm are mindless, and don't think of revenge. The Nevermores…_ Ruby paused, _they aren't going to take this lying down. They'll be back._

Cerise growled. _Then they're idiots._ Ruby pulled her head back looked back into one of her dragon's eyes. She saw nothing but determination. _They couldn't fight your team when they weren't focused on fighting. How can they hope to take us all on? We have the support of at least part of the Atlas military, all of Beacon,_ Cerise barred her teeth, _and a few dragons who want to get back at them. The Nevermores, the White Fang, neither can touch us._

 _Do you really believe that?_ Ruby asked while already knowing the answer.

Cerise blinked slowly. **_Every word._** There was no doubt now. The red dragon spoke in the Ancient Language.

Ruby smiled and hugged her dragon. _I love you Cerise._ The response came in the form of a long and low hum.

"Hey Ruby, why don't we go get something to eat," Yang suggested. "We've been in here a while."

"How long's a while?" Ruby asked as she pulled back from her dragon. A clock appeared in the top right corner of her vision showing 11:53. The fact that she had been in the Dragonhouse for nearly two hours didn't bother her. All the unexpected voice commands for her bionic eye did. She sighed. "Never mind…"

"You're eye?" Yang asked knowingly.

"I really need to get these thing figured out before the Vytal Festival." Ruby stood up and froze in place.

Apparently Yang didn't notice. "You still got a couple months. You'll be fine."

Ruby looked at her bionic hand with a mixture of disappointment and fear. "Can I even compete now?"

Yang stayed silent for a few seconds. "I don't see why not," she said hesitantly.

Ruby held up her metal arm. "Professional athletes typically aren't allowed to have these. It gives them too much of an advantage. What if I can't be in the tournament because of these things?"

Yang's eyes grew wide and her mouth hung open a little. "Uh, that is a good question." She scratched the back of her head. "Weiss would know, or at least know where to look."

The younger sister nodded, then stretched her mind out to find her partner. "Looks like she's heading to lunch too. That's convenient." Ruby put a hand over her stomach. She just realized how hungry she was.

"Let's get going then." Yang finally stood up. "Fixing Halcyon's leg took more out of me than I thought."

Nalia's head shot up and she looked over at Halcyon. _What happened to his leg?_ she asked everyone. Meanwhile, Halcyon hit Cerise in the back of the head with his tail. The green dragon's eyes narrowed, and looked between the two much smaller dragons. After a few seconds her eyes grew soft and settled on Cerise. Every dragon let their wings carpet the floor and hung their heads.

"Yang, we should probably get going," Ruby said as she put a hand on her sister's arm. "They need time to sort this all out." Yang nodded, and the two sisters left the Dragonhouse. Even though Ruby wanted to be there for Cerise, she knew there were some things that only the dragons could discuss between themselves.

"Why _did_ Cerise attack Halcyon?" Yang finally asked. Her tone was more sad than accusing.

Ruby sighed. "She was in a blind rage, attacking anything that moved. When she saw Halcyon, she blamed him for the egg being stolen. After that first hit, she realized what she did and hid for the rest of the night. Please don't be mad at her, she didn't know what she was doing."

Yang shrugged. "If Halcyon can't say mad at Cerise, neither can I. It's done, nobody's permanently injured, we can put this behind us."

"They did make up quick, didn't they?" A set of rabbit ears caught Ruby's attention. Velvet, along with the rest of her team, was walking toward the main landing area. All of them were armed. "Aren't Velvet and Coco supposed to be planning the dance?" Ruby asked Yang.

"I guess something came up," Yang said, watching the other team go. "Well, they still have a while. They could be back before the job needs to be handed off."

Ruby shrugged, then an idea popped into her head. Team CFVY was going on a mission outside Beacon. Velvet was a decent tracker. Maybe she could…Ruby shook her head. She was grasping at even more straws. The egg could be anywhere from Vale to Vacuo. While it would be nice to get a few more sets of eyes looking for the lost egg, team CFVY most likely had other things to worry about. Velvet didn't even know what the egg looked like. How could she tell the difference between it and a moss covered rock?

The sisters arrived at the cafeteria and searched around for Weiss. Yang caught sight of the heiress first. Weiss sat next to Blake on the far side of the room. There was no sign of Aaron.

After going through the lunch line, Ruby and Yang sat by their other teammates. "So what's new with you two?" the blonde asked.

"Well," Weiss began with more than a little pride, "If team CFVY isn't back by Thursday, Coco asked me to finish the final preparations. It will be my first time organizing an event like this."

"Here's hoping they'll get back in time." Ruby sipped her apple juice. "It's not that I'm not happy for you, but I'd like the others to get back safely."

Weiss shrugged. "Coco had Velvet as a second in command, so any of you want that role under me?"

"A socially awkward person planning a dance doesn't sound like a good idea." Ruby took another swig of her juice.

Weiss turned to Blake, but the Faunus was intently looking at her scroll. The heiress turned to Yang, a near grimace on her face. Yang smirked. "You need someone to do the heavy lifting, right? I've got your back."

"Someone's better than no one, I guess," Weiss sighed.

"Hey, Yang helped plan a few of my birthday parties before." Ruby put an arm around her sister's shoulders. "They turned out pretty well."

"Didn't Aaron say his birthday was sometime around now? Where is he anyway?" Yang looked around the cafeteria, not that he was in there already anyway.

Ruby turned her gaze to the doors and saw the latest member of team RWBY walk into the building. "Looks like you can ask him yourself." She stood up and waved at Aaron. He slowly looked up and locked eyes with his team leader. Ruby suddenly wished he hadn't. Aaron's eyes were dead, only showing a deep sadness. His shoulders were slumped and his back arched. Overall, he looked like a zombie who skipped dying.

Aaron broke eye contact with Ruby, and she sat back down. Hesitantly, Ruby sent a tendril of thought over to the other Rider, and met a solid wall. Instead of the image of one of Nalia's scales like normal, she met a wall of pure depression. She pulled back to her own mind and shook her head. "He is not okay."

"He was like that last night too, before we knew the egg was gone," Weiss commented. "What happened to him last night?"

"I think I may have just found out," Blake said, breaking her silence. Her wide and fear filled eyes stared at her scroll.

Weiss looked at the screen and gasped. "Are you saying he did _that?"_

Blake nodded. "It's possible. This happened right outside where the meeting was." She turned her scroll around for Ruby and Yang to see. Ruby could only stare at the headline on the news page. 'Four White Fang Soldiers Found Dead Outside Gathering Area.'

"He specifically said to _not_ do that when we went after the other guys," Yang defended while still keeping their actions secret to the other students around. "Why would he do this?"

Ruby tuned out the next part of the conversation. A member of her team had possibly killed people. While most likely justified in the eyes of the law, if he did kill those Faunus, he may not have forgiven himself. Ruby's mind went back to the one of the first days she knew Nalia. The green dragon asked her to look after Aaron if he breaks down. That time was fast approaching.

"Ruby," Weiss said, snapping Ruby out of her thoughts. "What do we do?"

"Wait a day," she said unconfidently. "I think that's what people do. If he's not better by tomorrow…I'll try and talk to him. If that doesn't work, I'll have to ask Nalia what to do. She knows him best."

Yang shook her head. "I really don't like this." She looked over at Aaron, who had since sat down at an empty table, away from anybody. "He never was the most social person, but that is ridiculous."

"Are you sure waiting is the best idea?" Weiss asked.

"No." Ruby sighed. She looked at Blake, who most likely had the most experience with isolation and possibly depression. The Faunus just shook her head. "I just don't know what else to do."

* * *

 **Back to filler this chapter, and a few things have been taken care of. Important chapter coming up next.**


	22. Picking Up The Pieces

**I won't lie, this chapter deals with some pretty heavy stuff, for lack of a better word. Hold on to your feels.**

* * *

Ruby smirked as she watched Yang flail around with a borrowed sword. Apparently, switching to fists and feet from a weapon was easier than going the other way. Ruby taught her sister some of the basics she learned from Uncle Qrow before she decided to switch to her massive scythe. She would have left that kind of teaching to Aaron, but he wasn't exactly reachable at the moment. Maybe Pyrrha would help.

Yang finished up a wild swing and nearly tossed the sword across the Dragonhouse. "Remind me why I have to do this again," she complained.

"If I have to learn fist fighting," Ruby began, "you have to learn how to fight with something other than Ember Celica."

 _Also,_ Nalia said from the other side of the blonde, _all Riders before have fought with a sword. And I don't care how good you are, if you fight a swordsman with your fists, you're asking to get an arm cut off._

Yang shrugged. "My Aura and wards will protect me. It's not like anyone around has the chance of getting through either any time soon."

Nalia growled at Yang. _You think that all you opponents will follow your tournament rules?_ The growl stayed with her mental voice. _You should know better just by facing the Nevermores. What will happen when you face someone who has years more experience than you and wants to kill you? You will be lucky if you just lose an arm._

Ruby stared at the dragon, slightly scared. The last time she heard Nalia come close to that tone was when they were chasing the first Nevermore courier. None of the dragons had been the same since the egg was stolen. Nalia was the worst off. It was a toss-up on whether she was angry or extremely depressed. She hadn't so much as smiled since that one time after Ruby unlocked Cerise' Aura. That was two days ago.

Then again, Nalia didn't have her Rider for support. Aaron only left his room once per day for lunch. He didn't go to classes, he didn't show up for the normal magic lessons, and he didn't talk to anyone. Nalia said she couldn't even get a word out of him. Ruby tried everything she could think of to get Aaron out of his room, from pounding on his door to mental communication. Blake was distancing herself at the same time, and even she was worried about Aaron.

Yang shook her head and turned away. She fell into a defensive stance and once again attacked an invisible enemy. Halcyon watched his Rider intently, as did Ruby. Yang was slowly improving, but at the moment she could only take on Jaune. She had a long way to go before she could fight anyone else.

Ruby turned back and faced Cerise. _We're falling apart here,_ she said. _We need Aaron and Blake back to their old selves and we need to find that egg._

Cerise hummed sadly. _We only have control over one of those at the moment._

 _Which one? Neither Aaron or Blake will talk to us and we have the entire planet to search for the egg._ Ruby shook her head. _I should have asked Velvet to help search. She could have covered an area we have no access to. At least someone might be looking for more than a few hours a day._

 _I have a feeling you are the only one who can get through to Aaron._

Ruby scoffed. _The only one? What can I do that Nalia can't?_

Cerise hesitated before continuing. _You also had a traumatic experience recently. You are more likely than the rest of us to know what he's going through. Nalia's and my experience is second hand. No matter how many memories you share, it will always be your experience._

 _But how do I get through to him? If he's not talking to Nalia, why would he say anything to me?_

 _He has to leave his room some time._

 _Corner him at lunch?_ Ruby shook her head. _Too public. This is definitely not something that either of us want a lot of people knowing._ She thought it over for a few seconds. _I could do what Sun did and jump through Aaron's window._

 _Remember his reaction to that? It's probably not the best idea._

Ruby sighed. _You're right. I'll think of something._ She turned back to Yang, who wasn't flailing as much as she used to be with the actually looked like she could take down an Ursa. While most of her strikes were wide and left her open, they were strong, and would leave a defender struggling to hold back the blade. That was just practicing against air though, not a person "Would you like an opponent now?" Ruby called.

Yang finished a particularly vicious swing, then held her borrowed sword by her side. "Might as well," the blonde said. "Still pretty sure you'll still kick the crap out of me."

"Probably." Ruby pulled Crescent Rose out from behind her back. "Sometimes you have to lose to learn."

"Uncle Qrow?" Yang asked while moving her sword into a defensive position.

"Me after losing to Aaron I don't know how many times." Crescent Rose extended to its full length. "Now, your move Yang."

The blonde smirked. "Gladly." Yang ran at Ruby and swung her sword at Ruby's right shoulder. Ruby easily blocked the strike, but felt the strain on her left arm. The haft of her scythe was slowly being forced to the left side. Ruby pushed back with her right arm and hit Yang on the side of the head with the end of Crescent Rose. The older sister staggered a little, but recovered quickly. She smiled maliciously and raised her sword again.

This time, Ruby launched the attack. She swung her scythe around herself and at Yang's midsection. The older sister blocked it clumsily, and the attack continued to hit its mark. Yang lost her grip on her sword and she ended up flying across the floor of the Dragonhouse. Halcyon whimpered a little, but made no move toward his Rider. Ruby smiled and held her scythe loosely by her side. "Ruby: one, Yang: zero," she said confidently.

"If we're looking at the year as a whole," Yang started as she picked up her sword, "it's more like Ruby: nineteen, Yang: twenty-five."

"Technicalities." Ruby once again raised Crescent Rose. "You ready to go on?"

Yang dramatically swung her sword in front of her. "If that's the best you've got, I'm surprised a Grimm hasn't gotten you by now." Yang charged and Ruby smirked. That kind of banter stretched back before either of them attended Signal. Way back then, it was over board games or the occasional video game. Now they took verbal jabs at each other every time they sparred. The whole experience was nice for Ruby to take her mind off all the bad things that were going on.

Yang once again swung at Ruby. The younger sister easily caught the strike near the scope on her weapon. Yang could be stronger than an Ursa when determined or angry, and she was using that to her full advantage. Ruby pushed herself away and swung her scythe at her sister's hands. The blonde pulled away slightly, but not far enough to keep her weapon from being struck out of her hands.

Ruby stuck the business end of Crescent Rose about a foot away from Yang's face and smirked. The weapon wasn't loaded and the safety was on, otherwise she wouldn't do anything like that to anyone, Aura or not. "Another one for me!" She lowered her scythe and put a hand on her hip. "What happened? I thought you were a good fighter."

"Lucky shot," Yang scoffed as she retrieved her sword. "If I'm remembering right, you struggled when you first fought Aaron."

"True, but I got in more than one strike before being disarmed." Ruby chuckled a little bit, then turned semi serious. "You don't need a death grip on the hilt, but you need a stronger grip than that. Having either too strong of a grip or too loose and the hilt could cause some serious damage to your hands."

"Yeah, yeah." Yang shook her head like she was tired of hearing the same thing over and over. She raised her sword in front of her. "Your move airhead."

Ruby shrugged. "Just remember hothead, you asked for this." The sisters exchanged physical and verbal strikes for a while. Ruby won all their sparring matches, and Yang gradually increased the length of time she could last against her sister. Somewhere along the line, their dragons decided to have their own sparring matches. The Dragonhouse was filled with the sounds of growling dragons and clashing metal. If there was no soundproofing in the building, the occupants would find out soon.

Nalia silently watched over it all. From the small glances Ruby got of the green dragon during and in between bouts, she was slipping back into her light depression. She held her head high to keep an eye on both fights, but her eyes weren't focused and were half lidded. Her wings drooped to the point of creating a large green carpet around her.

As Ruby and Yang were setting up for a fifteenth match, Nalia's head shot to the side and she made a noise that sounded somewhere between a whimper and a hum. All fighting in the building halted as the large dragon left the Dragonhouse.

Yang walked over to her sister's side. "Think something's happened with Aaron?" she asked.

"Probably. Cerise made the same type of noise a few times when I was recovering." Ruby looked back at her dragon for confirmation.

Cerise hummed and blinked slowly. _I believe Nalia finally got through to him. You might be able to do the same._

Ruby nodded, then folded up Crescent Rose. "I'm going to go see if I can finally talk to Aaron," she told Yang.

"What, I have to practice with a sword, but you don't have to practice without a weapon?" Yang put her hands on her hips.

"I would but," Ruby raised her bionic arm, "this thing gave me too much of an advantage already. I'm sure I could put you through a wall by accident."

"You have a point there. You'll need to get a punching bag or something."

"Or find out how to decrease the strength in these things myself. Weiss said I'm going to have to have them powered down for the tournament. It would be nice to know how it's done before then." Ruby looked at the small control panel on the inside of her arm. None of the buttons were labeled except for the power and eject buttons. She did not feel like experimenting on herself to find out that all the other buttons did. "Anyway, wish me luck. I'll need it."

Yang gave Ruby a thumbs up. "I'm seen what you can do for people. You'll do fine." Ruby nodded then left the Dragonhouse. For the first time since Cerise returned from her angry rampage, she wasn't glued to her Rider's side. Even though Ruby felt her dragon in her mind, she wished she had the extra support for the rest of the walk.

Ruby thought over what could actually be on Aaron's mind. Of course, all evidence pointed to him killing those four White Fang soldiers. He apparently told the rest of the team not to kill anyone when they rescued Ruby. If Aaron did kill them, he was forced to. Still, he said Alagaësia used the death penalty for more than just treason. If he came from a place like that, why was he so adverse to it?

Other than that, Ruby couldn't think of anything else that could crush Aaron so much. He was out of it before the egg was stolen, so that couldn't be the main cause. Just seeing the bodies wouldn't cause him to go off the deep end for three days either. He didn't act out at all when they freed those Faunus from that warehouse in the city. The one dead girl in there was innocent, and couldn't have hurt anyone. Even Blake could admit that some people in the White Fang could only be stopped by being killed. Take lives to save lives, but that couldn't make it any better.

Ruby entered her residence hall and walked straight for Aaron's room. As she got closer, she saw his door was slightly open. Still, she knocked lightly before pushing it open. "Aaron, you in here?" she asked. She looked around the room and saw no one inside. Ruby closed the door completely and walked three doors down to her own room. She opened the door, but only saw Weiss inside.

The heiress looked up from her textbook and took out one of her earbuds. "Need something?" she asked.

"Has Aaron stopped by here?" Ruby asked after a second's hesitation.

Weiss stared at her partner for a few seconds before answering. "He's out of his room?" Ruby simply nodded. "I haven't seen him, but Nalia did walk by a few minutes ago." Weiss gestured with her thumb

Ruby nodded. "What about Blake? She still in the library?"

"Yes." Weiss sighed. "We need to get our team back to full strength. Both of them are dragging us down."

"I'm working on it. Thanks for the help, Weiss." Ruby closed the door and walked in the direction her partner suggested. Aaron was out of his room somewhere, but he could be anywhere on campus. Ruby thought about searching for him with her mind, but she didn't want to scare him off.

Ruby walked up to the fourth floor and angled toward the balcony. She wanted to get a decent view at the campus, hopefully spotting Nalia and maybe Aaron. What she didn't expect was Aaron leaning on the balcony railing. He hadn't noticed Ruby but that could change. She walked over to the balcony herself and called out, "There you are. You've been hard to get a hold of the past few days."

Aaron turned to look at Ruby as she leaned against the railing. "I needed some fresh air and a change of scenery." He sounded like he hadn't slept in days.

"I take it you wanted to see her too?" Ruby looked down at the ground, where Nalia was curled up next to the building.

The other Rider locked eyes with his dragon, then sighed. "In case you haven't noticed Ruby, I'd rather be alone right now."

"You've _been_ alone for three days. The only time anyone's seen you is during lunch. You haven't been to class during that time. Blake's being more sociable than you, and she's getting worse by the day."

Aaron finally looked Ruby in the eyes. Genuine concern hid behind layers of regret. "What's wrong with Blake?"

"This is what I'm talking about! You don't even know what's going on in your own team. Aaron, what's going on?"

He turned away. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"It physically hurt to talk about my imprisonment," Ruby looked back down at the ground, "but I'm glad I did. It's a weight off my shoulders, and it let everyone know what was going on and what I went through. I don't have to carry it alone." She turned back to Aaron. "I _will_ swear not to tell anyone if you want me to."

Aaron sighed. "That won't be necessary." He started speaking in the Ancient Language. Ruby didn't know all of what he was saying, but she caught a few words regarding silence and distance. He stopped speaking, and suddenly a nearly invisible bubble formed around the two Riders. The only reason Ruby saw it was the small ripples in the air that formed after Aaron finished casting the spell.

"Have you ever killed anyone, Ruby?" he asked solemnly.

Ruby's heart fell into her stomach. "Those White Fang soldiers?"

Aaron nodded. "More than them." He took his arms out of his jacket and it fell to the ground. Then he rolled up the left sleeve of his shirt. Ruby tried to suppress a gasp, but failed. Several scars lined the upper part of Aaron's arm. Most were parallel, but two made a large ragged V. "Almost all of these scars represent one life I've stolen. Whether by blade, arrow, or some other action, I've killed them. I called my sword Redemption as if I could redeem myself from my crimes as a child. Now I realize the irony in the name."

Ruby couldn't speak for several seconds. Those weren't his first kills? He was only fifteen, and he already killed more people than most soldiers, police, and Huntsmen ever will. "Th-they all had to be justified," she eventually got out.

The other Rider shook his head, then looked down at the ground. "The first five. Four slavers I caught just outside the city of Dras-Leona. The fifth…" tears ran down Aaron's cheeks, "the fifth was a woman they kidnapped from her home. They slit her throat because I didn't act, because I didn't want to fight."

Utterly shocked, Ruby covered her mouth with a hand and fought back tears. "Three of the next four were soldiers that were assigned to back me up that got killed. Slain by another magician that I couldn't stop because I couldn't assault his mind. I ended up getting him the old fashioned way, but it was too late."

Aaron clenched his teary eyes and tightened his grip on the stone railing. "Then Galbatorix betrayed us. Him and thirteen other pairs killed hundreds of us, because we were too arrogant to see it coming." He paused and wiped some of the tears off his face. "All eggs but the three I brought were shattered. Only two dragons survived outside of the Forsworn, Nalia being one of them. The other, one of our former teachers, Glaedr, but he can't fight anymore."

Ruby found herself fighting between rage and sadness like Nalia the past few days. Her little Cerise was one of less than twenty left alive, and the only egg left was missing. Dragons were in extreme danger of going extinct. Only one friendly dragon on the other side could possibly help. She looked at the scars on Aaron's arm. Three more were still unaccounted for.

"Then one of my old friends hurt me even more while Nalia and I were hiding," Aaron whispered as he curled a hand into a fist. "We were the only pair unaccounted for after the battle. Once Galbatorix took over, he ordered that my family to be killed if we didn't turn ourselves in. Three months later…" his voice cracked and stayed silent for a few seconds, "three months later an elf courier came to me and swore to me that my parents and my three year old sister were killed by Kialandí, one of my closest friends before he joined Galbatorix. Their heads were hung on spikes in the center of Teirm. From then on, we had no contact with anyone from Alagaësia."

Ruby stood silent for several seconds. Aaron never said anything before about a sister. Dying that way so young...tears now ran unabated down Ruby's face. She hesitantly approached Aaron and threw her arms around him. He tensed up for a few seconds. He eventually loosened, but he didn't return the hug. "I got off easy," Ruby said softly. "I won't even pretend to know what you're going through, or have been through. I am so sorry."

"All that is why I haven't instructed you or Yang how to commune with nature." Ruby pulled away and looked at Aaron with confusion. "The elves and Riders can communicate with animals and plants. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but all animals have their own thoughts and urges. It's a wonderful thing to experience, but it makes our job ten times harder. It is utter agony when you're in the head of someone as they die, human, animal, or plant. Everything and everyone has their own hopes and dreams. Once you feel that, it's hard to fight, even harder to kill."

Aaron paused again. "It's all taken its toll. After I took the lives of the first five, I tried to take my own." Ruby gasped and froze in place. She couldn't even cover her mouth. Nalia hummed sadly from the ground. "I couldn't take it. I was in the woman's mind as she died. I could only get one word out of her: why? I couldn't take it. I didn't think I deserved to live. I was about to run myself through when Nalia knocked my sword out of my hand. She grabbed me in her claws and flew me to the coast. She kept me pinned to the ground for over a day before a search party came for us.

"After my family was killed, neither Nalia nor I felt we had anything to live for. I was in the worst shape though. Before I drew my sword, Nalia asked me to kill her first. I swear it was a strategy. She knew I couldn't do it, and if I could, I wouldn't be far behind."

Ruby took in a big breath, after forgetting to breathe through Aaron's explanation. As she was figuring out what to say, Aaron drew a long knife out of his jacket. "This is the only blade to taste my blood. Never during training, never on the streets of Teirm. It makes sure I remember their faces. I hate this thing, but I have to carry it."

Resolve took over Ruby and she pointed her natural hand at the blade. "Jierda," she said, and the knife obediently shattered. Aaron looked over at Ruby, an uncertain look in his eyes. "You won't be needing that anymore."

Aaron sighed. "I'll just find another one. They aren't hard to-"

" _No, you won't,"_ Ruby said confidently in the Ancient Language. "You weren't killing just for the heck of it. You were saving lives. Stop focusing on those who you actually killed. Focus on the lives you saved. Think about those lives you've made better just by being you."

"What about those who died because of my inaction or inability to act?" Aaron was growing angry, and at the moment, that was better than depressed.

"You didn't kill that woman, those slavers did. I'm sure those monsters would have done the same thing to many more people if you didn't step in."

Aaron shook his head. "She was still my responsibility, and I let her and her family down."

"You can't win everything. There will be times when everything is stacked against you, but you still have to keep fighting." As Ruby talked, she realized she might as well be speaking to herself.

"My decisions get people hurt. They always have. The two times I've lead a mission, people got killed and seriously injured." Aaron looked sadly at Ruby. "Every time I look at you, it's a reminder of how I've failed. You, and so many others who were killed or injured when I was supposed to protect them. I'm a failure as a leader."

Ruby raised her bionic arm, quickly removed the glove and rolled up her sleeve. At the moment, she didn't care who saw. "This is not your fault. None of these things are your fault. You aren't the only one to lose people on a mission either, and any commander worth anything hates losing anybody. Even General Ironwood isn't that cold. There are some situations where you don't make any mistakes and still lose." She paused. "I am terrified every time the team leaves Beacon, mission or otherwise, that one or more of us won't come back, whether it's my mistake or not. You wouldn't know anything before, but it's only gotten worse since I was kidnapped."

Aaron shook his head. "How didn't I kill my family though? If I turned myself in, they would still be alive."

"And you and Nalia wouldn't be. Cerise, Halcyon, and the last egg would be in the hands of a madman. You didn't kill them. Kialandí and Galbatorix did. You aren't the only one on the team to lose family either. Yang's mom left her early on, and we both lost mine. We at least have some idea about what you're dealing with."

"Still, they're gone. You practically confirmed that they're dead because of me."

Ruby reached up and touched one of the pins on her hood. "They're in a better place now, away from Galbatorix."

Aaron stared at Ruby skeptically. She could practically see the gears turning behind the other Rider's eyes. "So that's where you and Yang disappear to every Sunday." Aaron shook his head. "How can you think any of that is real after what's been done to you and everything else in the world?"

" _I don't think, I know."_ Ruby temporarily switched to the Ancient Language. Aaron blinked his eyes in surprise. "I can't remember everything that happened when I was captured, but I know it helped me carry on until you came for me."

Aaron sighed and shook his head again. "You believe what you will. I'll choose to remain neutral on the subject."

Once again, Ruby hugged Aaron. This time, there was no tension. "Aaron, you aren't a bad guy. From what you've said, you only fight when you have to. It's not a bad thing to feel guilty about it. I'd be worried if you didn't. You don't have to fight this alone. We're all here for you." She pulled away. "When you're ready to rejoin society, come find us."

Ruby turned around and started walking away from the balcony. As she was about to put the one glove back on, she saw several students standing in the doorway. All of them stared at Ruby's bionic arm. She really didn't know any of them, but they still knew, and would most likely talk.

For a second, Ruby froze in fear. She looked down at the fake hand and the empty glove. She wasn't trying to hide the limb itself, but what made the arm, leg, and eye necessary. It had been a decent time since she was kidnapped and very few would be able to connect the dots. Still, a few people would, and she would be known as someone who couldn't stop a few kidnappers. She didn't care about her image like Weiss or Yang, but she did care if people trusted her in the field. That would fall off once word got out.

Ruby quickly put her glove back on and rolled down her sleeve. She walked past the small group without looking at any of them. Still, she felt their eyes on her back all the way down the hall. She felt good for finally being able to talk with Aaron, but for the first time in a while, Ruby felt vulnerable.

* * *

Aaron watched Ruby walk through the door back into the residence hall. The students just inside watched the young girl too. They whispered amongst themselves and pointed fingers down the hall. The Rider frowned, picked up his jacket, and walked over to the doorway. "Figured I should let you know," he said in a friendly voice, "if you tell anyone what you saw, you will have three very angry dragons after you, as well as her sister." Aaron walked past the group and into the building himself.

 _That wasn't very nice,_ Nalia teased. _They might not have talked._

 _I couldn't take that chance._ Aaron paused. _It's good to hear your voice again._

Nalia mentally hummed. _I missed yours as well. Please don't shut me out like that again._

 _I owe you at least one scale cleaning after that._ Aaron looked down in the direction Nalia lay. _I left you alone when you needed support._

Neither spoke for a few seconds. _Losing the egg wasn't your fault either. Like Ruby said, sometimes you can make no mistakes and still lose._

 _But there I did. No magical protection?_ Aaron shook his head. _I should have known that the locks on the doors weren't enough. Even though I don't understand them doesn't mean others don't._

 _Whoever it was, they knew what they were doing._ Nalia let a growl slip into her voice. _They left no scent, and no tracks._

 _You thinking Black Queen?_

Nalia hesitated. _It's possible, but it's too early to say. On the same subject, have you thought about Ironwood's offer yet?_

Aaron sighed and shook his head. _I think we have to. We can do so much more than normal Atlas forces. If the Black Queen is in Vale, we have the best chance of catching her._ He walked by the main team RWBY dorm and heard Ruby laughing at something inside. Aaron smiled and kept on walking. _There's a lot more to her than she lets on._

 _I knew she was capable._ Nalia sent her approval. _She didn't say anything wrong, and you needed all of it._

 _Maybe I did._ Aaron opened the door to his room and walked in. He retrieved the scroll that Ironwood gave him for direct contact. _Well, let's get this over with._

* * *

 **Well, that was something. I'm going with Aaron doesn't know that Galbatorix has eggs with him, and that will come up again later. Another thing, figured since we see heroes that don't feel a thing all the time, I figured it would be good to have one that cared a little too much. There have been police officers who have gotten that low before, so I don't think it's too much of an exaggeration.**

 **Also, I know that what I wrote is a sensitive topic to many, me included. If I was trying to convey anything in this chapter, it's don't go through tough times alone. Stick close to friends and family. There are people out there that care deeply about you, and they might not even know you. I believe I'm in that group.**

 **Now, on a happier note, the dance is coming up soon. It's high time for some happy feels rather than the knife to the heart kind.**


	23. Looking Up

**Here, I will try to remove the knives from people's hearts. No promises though.**

* * *

 _Sorry, but next time we get a cake for someone, we aren't flying,_ Ruby told Cerise as she desperately tried to keep the large cake stable and level on her lap. _No offense to your flying, it's just too turbulent up here._

 _None taken,_ Cerise said, keeping her head forward. _I know I'm not the most stable flier. That will come with time._ She angled to the ground in front of the Dragonhouse. Another gust of wind blew by, jostling the dragon and nearly sending the cake falling to the ground below. Cerise landed gently soon after.

Ruby threw her legs over her dragon and looked at the ground below. She slowly slid off Cerise' back and bent her knees as she hit the ground. Thankfully, the cake in the box stayed perfectly intact through the entire trip. "Now for the hard part."

 _Hard part? I thought getting that here in one piece was the hard part._

The Rider smiled. "I didn't have to be worried about getting ambushed by hungry students in the air. I'll see you later." Ruby turned around and began the now perilous walk back to her dorm room. Yang should have been able to gather team JNPR and the rest of RWBY by now. Aaron finally let slip when his birthday was, and they all missed it by four days. Celebrating late was better than never.

Thankfully, Ruby made it to her dorm room only attracting a few hungry stares. She shifted the cake's weight completely to her right arm and opened the door with her left. Members of the two teams were scattered throughout the room. Aaron was telling some kind of story. "Then Nalia dove down from the top of the mountain. We caught Brom and Saphira completely by surprise. Nalia hit almost dead center on Saphira's back and-"

"Happy late birthday Aaron!" Ruby interrupted, causing the one guy on her team to jump in his seat. "Looks like you're not the only one who can catch people by surprise."

"Looks like we'll be having leftover cake for a few days," Yang said while eyeing up the large box.

"I think you're forgetting how much Nora, Ruby, and Aaron can eat," Weiss said.

"She has a point," Pyrrha chipped in. "I don't think there will be much left at all."

"Challenge accepted!" Nora cheered.

"I thought there was something strange going on." Aaron crossed his arms. "A two team study session after we've both finished a few tests didn't sit right with me"

"Some of us might have to retake one or two, you know," Jaune said dejectedly.

"Jaune, not again," Ruby moaned as she set the cake box down on a desk. "I thought you were getting better at studying."

"I am, it's just that the last essay question kicked my butt." There were mumbles of agreement throughout the room.

"Well, let's not let the cake go to waste," Yang said as she stood up. Ruby opened up the box and her sister walked over to her side. "I've got the knife, but do have the candles?"

Ruby froze, then facepalmed with her natural hand. "Dang it. Cerise, how could you let me forget the candles?"

 _It wasn't **my** responsibility to remember them Ruby,_ Cerise said. Her tone suggested that she let everyone in the room hear.

The red Rider rolled her eyes. She turned around and faced the general direction her dragon lay. "Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile." Aaron raised his eyebrows, while a few other people in the room snickered.

"I understood that reference." Yang gently punched Ruby's shoulder. "There was a time where I thought that it couldn't be made. I wish I could have beat you to it though." She jerked her head to the side and winced a little. Probably Halcyon getting a little defensive.

"That's a reference to something?" Aaron asked confused. "I've been saying that to Nalia for years."

"Another one for the Scrolflix list!" Ruby waved everyone else over, then looked at her natural hand. "Brisingr." A small flame burned to life near the center of her palm.

Yang took the hint and did the same. "Not exactly candles, but this will do." Aaron stood in front of the cake and the two teams gathered around, all except Blake, anyway. She stayed sitting on her bed looking at something on her scroll. Ruby nearly frowned at the sight. While Aaron had mostly recovered from his bout of depression, Blake kept pushing herself farther away. If the bags under her eyes were any indication, she wasn't getting enough sleep.

Ruby was brought out of these thoughts by someone starting the age old happy birthday song. Aaron put on a confused face and looked around the group with only his eyes. Everyone finished, except Yang who went on to the second verse only sung by third and fourth years in the cafeteria. "Gooooo out and have fun." She stomped her foot instead of clapping due to the fire in her hand.

"Yang! No!" Ruby yelled. "He might take that seriously!"

"Isn't everyone who sings that part underage anyway?" Aaron asked, confused eyes darting between Ruby and Yang.

"I've heard it's a tradition going back to when the legal drinking age was eighteen," Yang said with a shrug. "I'm just continuing it."

"This is when you blow out the candles," Jaune chipped in from the back of the pack.

Aaron turned to look at Jaune, then back at the two sister Riders. He shrugged. "Strange customs here." He leaned down slightly and in one breath blew a stream of air at the two small flames. Ruby cut the energy flow to her flame and it went out quickly.

Yang's, on the other hand, only burned brighter. "Aww, who's the lucky girl Aaron?"

"YAAAANG!" Ruby yelled even louder.

Nora burst out laughing, but Aaron looked even more confused than before. "Looks like you got yourself a girlfriend there, lover boy!" Nora said as she elbowed Aaron.

The green Rider rapidly turned to Nora, and his face lost some color. "What?" Aaron turned back to Yang with his eyebrows raised.

Yang's smile disappeared and she threw her hand up in surrender. "Whoa, whoa, not me. Man, these jokes aren't going my way lately."

"Cultural differences, Yang," Ren said with a smile on his face. "Some things don't translate well."

"Now that all that's over," Ruby threw a glare at Yang, "how about we actually eat this thing. I remembered the plates this time too." She took the box that held the plates and forks from where Crescent Rose normally rested. Yang cut the cake and everyone took at least one piece. Weiss grabbed two and brought the second over to Blake. After a few seconds of conversation, Blake slowly took the cake from the heiress.

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," Aaron glared at Ruby, who just shrugged. "Nalia flew down and hit Saphira's back dead center…" He continued on to explain in detail how he and Nalia bested three other pairs in a challenge they made themselves. While Aaron only managed to defeat one Rider, Nalia took out the other three dragons, despite them being a lot bigger.

"Something's not sitting right with me," Weiss said when Aaron finished. "Why can't you remember the name of the red dragon?"

The smile disappeared of Aaron's face. "Because his Rider and he was one of the ones who betrayed us." Silence filled the room. "Shortly before the Battle of Vroengard, the combined strength of the dragons there cast one of the strangest spells ever. They couldn't stand that several of their own would want to wipe them out, so they completely erased the names of the Forsworn's dragons from everyone's memory. _All_ names, known by the public or not." Ruby's eyes widened and locked with Yang's. Neither sister said anything, but they knew what Aaron meant by _all_.

"Why would they do that? How did they do that" Pyrrha asked.

"Dragons hate traitors more than humans and elves combined. As for how, dragons can only use magic when they have the right inspiration. It's very rare that they can all cast one spell together. When they can though, they are among the most powerful spells ever cast."

Aaron set the remainder of his cake on the ground and leaned forward in his seat. "Now I'd like to move onto something a little more serious." Ruby's shoulders slumped. She knew where this was going. Apparently Yang did too. Her fingers curled into fists. The air in the room completely turned around from where it was only moments before.

"Who would steal a dragon egg anyway?" Yang growled. "We're the only ones who know about it."

"Evidently not," Aaron sighed, "and I _know_ no one said anything." He took out his scroll and hit a few things on the screen. "I wasn't completely useless when I was pitying myself. I've mapped out the area around Vale and figured out how much area we can all cover in a day. This will change as Cerise grows, and Halcyon should be able to carry Yang next week."

"We _do_ have our first official missions next week," Weiss said. "From what I've heard, the huntsmen we shadow have entire days structured to the minute if at all possible."

"Plus, these are real missions that need to be done," Ren added. "People are counting on us to complete them. We can't just leave on mission."

"Weiss and I are committed this week too," Yang sighed. "We can't really go too far since we're planning the dance. We can't hand it off to anyone else either."

Aaron put a hand on the side of his head. "So we have two weeks before we can start searching for real."

"Hey," Jaune cut in, "Ruby found Cerise egg when you weren't around, right? That turned out okay. It's possible that whoever stole the egg may have dumped it somewhere someone can find it."

"I did think it was a pretty rock," Ruby agreed. "I'm so glad I was wrong though." She felt Cerise send her appreciation from the Dragonhouse.

"We have anything planned for after Professor Goodwitch's sparring class today?" Yang asked.

"We've got nothing," Jaune said, the he looked at Ruby.

Team RWBY's leader turned to the newest member. "Aaron, send the map to the rest of us. We'll do what we can while you're in with Doctor Oobleck."

Aaron nodded and hit a few more buttons on the screen. Soon after, Ruby's scroll vibrated. She opened up the new file and looked at the detailed map and search routes. "I was learning how to set this up as I went with only a little help from books and the CCT, so bear with me. The areas on the outside are for aerial searches from dragonback while the ones closer to the city are for searches on foot. Using my past experience, I've determined the amount of area each of us can cover in a day. But none of this takes Grimm into account, so keep that in mind."

Ruby looked over the routes. Aaron even labeled who should be taking which areas. Ruby noticed that none of Cerise' and hers went anywhere close to Forever Fall and the beach she was captured. Another of hers covered all of Patch, but it was much smaller than the ones to the south. She glanced at Aaron out of the corner of her eye. All of that couldn't have been a coincidence.

She turned her attention back to the map. It looked like team JNPR was tasked with searching to the north and east while team RWBY took everything to the south. As Ruby looked over her team's part, she noticed a tab alongside their routes. She opened it, and saw a somewhat revised map in case Blake wouldn't be joining in. It wasn't as well developed as the erst, but it was something. Ruby looked over at the Faunus. She was staring at her scroll, but not at the map. Ruby didn't want to believe that Blake would sit out on the search, but she couldn't ignore the possibility.

"For never using this program before," Weiss said, "I'm impressed. It's color-coded and everything."

Aaron shrugged. "I try."

"So what do you want done if we find whoever took the egg?" Pyrrha asked.

"Breaking his legs is an option," Nora said a little too happily.

Yang shifted in her seat. "That's _one_ option."

 _A little too passive if you ask me,_ Cerise growled. Ruby turned her head to where her dragon was. A few other people in the room did too. _An egg thief should not get off that easily._

Ruby shivered and tried to brush off her dragon's hostility. She knew Cerise was just venting, and red dragons were more aggressive than others. Still, it was still disturbing to hear her normally peaceful dragon wanting to hurt anyone. She looked at the time on her scroll. "It looks like we should probably be heading for sparring class right now."

Jaune looked at his scroll too. "Probably a good idea." Everyone stood up from where they were sitting and filed out into the hallway. At least they were finally doing something about the egg instead of just moping around.

* * *

Aaron sat with the rest of his team near the center of the stands in the auditorium. Team JNPR inexplicably took up seats on the far side. Professor Goodwitch stood on the sparring stage, giving a lecture on proper technique before the actual matches began. It was all stuff Aaron learned back on Vroengard, and from the looks on the rest of his teammate's faces, it was review for them as well.

"Alright, now onto the sparring matches," Professor Goodwitch finally said. "Are there any volunteers to start off?"

Across the large room, Pyrrha stood up. "I am prepared," she announced. Aaron noticed Ruby slump a little in her seat.

Goodwitch nodded. "And who would you like to be your opponent?"

Pyrrha looked behind herself and directly at another team. "I choose team CRDL as my opponent." Almost immediately, murmurs broke out in the stands. Ruby straightened out, and Aaron saw a smirk appear on her face.

"Are you sure, Miss Nikos? There are not very many situations in which you will be fighting four opponents at one time, and almost certainly not in the tournament."

"I am sure." Pyrrha spoke with complete confidence.

Goodwitch nodded again. "As you wish, Miss Nikos. You all have five minutes to prepare." She turned around and walked off stage.

"This ought to be good," Yang said to the team.

Aaron was thoroughly confused. "Why would she fight a full team? I thought this was all against single opponents."

"Against Pyrrha, team CRDL might as well be one person," Weiss said. "They may act big and tough, but they're one of the lowest ranked teams here."

"She's doing it to teach them a lesson," Ruby chipped in. "After the last class, Cardin and his team ganged up on a first year Faunus. They didn't get physical beyond a few pushes, but their verbal attacks…"

"I take it they've been doing this for a while." Aaron looked at the door team CRDL disappeared through.

"They were worse last semester," Ruby continued. "The things they were doing to Velvet…I'd rather not think about it. Seeing them going at it again, after what I've seen and been through, I snapped. I got up in their faces and let them have it. It took everything I had not to put them through a wall or two." Ruby grimaced. "But even after everything they've done, I'd still rather have them around than the Nevermores."

"Someone was going to fight them, one way or the other," Blake finally spoke up. "Pyrrha just beat me to it." She picked up the book she brought with her and opened it.

"I have a feeling each of us would have gone after at least one of them." Yang crossed her arms. "With all they've done, I'm surprised they haven't been expelled, or at least suspended. No one would shed a tear if they left."

There was silence in the team for a few minutes. Across the room, Aaron noticed two of the three that he literally ran into back when they first decided to go after the White Fang. They hadn't been around much, and every time Ruby, Aaron, or Yang tried to get close to them, they quickly walked away. Aaron couldn't shake the feeling that those two were hiding something other than Emerald being a pickpocket.

"Here we go." Ruby leaned forward in her seat. Aaron looked down into the ring and saw team CRDL walking in. Directly across from them, Pyrrha strode onto the stage. All the guys were bigger than her, but size didn't matter if they didn't have the skill to back it up.

The lights in the room dimmed, and the crowd silenced. Pyrrha charged the other team. She took a few swipes at Cardin first, who failed to move his mace in to block. Pyrrha quickly moved to attack Dove, who actually managed to block a few strikes. The last two the warrior hadn't touched soon had their legs cut out from under them. Pyrrha backed off a little, letting the opposing team regain some of their negligible composure.

The rest of the fight went in a similar fashion. Pyrrha was as adept at using her shield as a weapon as her spear. No member of team CRDL managed to land a hit on her. Their coordination was nonexistent past the first few exchanges. While Pyrrha had difficulty managing to hit her opponents with Dust rounds, she didn't need to. She was so fast with her spear and shield, she didn't need to rely on ranged combat.

Eventually, the guys fell to the floor and didn't get up. Sky and Russel were the first to fall. Dove was taken out by Cardin toward the end. Aaron couldn't tell of that backswing was intentional or not. Either way, Cardin soon got what was coming to him. Pyrrha tossed the bully into the air, then slammed him back into the ground.

The lights turned back to full brightness and Pyrrha stood tall in victory. Goodwitch walked back onto the stage. "And that's the match," she said.

Cardin looked up from the floor and groaned, "Lucky shot." He then fell to the ground.

"He got what was coming to him," Ruby mumbled. The rest of the team nodded in agreement. Aaron looked down at the four guys strewn across the floor. He wasn't sure if team CRDL was that bad for not getting one solid hit in, or if Pyrrha was that good, or both.

"Well done miss Nikos," Goodwitch said as she turned to Pyrrha. "You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament."

Pyrrha nodded and smiled. "Thank you professor."

Goodwitch turned back to her tablet. "Alright, now I know that's a tough act to follow but we have time for one more sparring match. Any volunteers?" She turned to where team RWBY was sitting. "Mister Benson or Miss Belladonna?" Blake quickly looked up and closed her book. "You two have been rather docile for the past few classes. Perhaps one of you-"

"I'll do it," a voice said from across the room. Aaron looked over and saw one of the new students on his feet.

Goodwitch straightened her glasses. "Mercury, is it? Very well, let's find you an opponent."

"Actually," Mercury interrupted, "I want to fight, her." He pointed right at Pyrrha.

The warrior woman recoiled slightly. "Me?"

"I'm afraid Miss Nikos has just finished a match," Goodwitch cut in, "I'd recommend you choose another partner."

"No, it's fine," Pyrrha insisted. She looked up at Mercury. "I'd be happy to oblige."

Professor Goodwitch nodded. "Very well. You both have five minutes to prepare." Again, she left the stage. Blake sighed, and reopened her book.

"This'll be a fun match," Ruby said, back to her normal self. "Never seen Mercury fight before."

"If he's competing in the tournament, this will be the perfect opportunity to observe him," Weiss stated. "He won't be able to hold back if he wants to beat Pyrrha."

"Even then he'll still get creamed." Yang crossed her arms. "Was he even paying attention to what she just did?"

Aaron stayed out of the conversation. He was thinking about why Mercury would want to fight Pyrrha. She was a world renowned fighter. Aaron wasn't sure if he could beat her, not that he'd ever admit it. There was something else in play. Then again, Mercury might just be sizing up Pyrrha for the tournament. Weiss had discussed doing the same several times.

A few minutes later, Mercury entered the stage. The lights dimmed again, and the gray haired guy started circling Pyrrha. After a few seconds, he ran at Pyrrha and launched a kick that was easily blocked. Mercury kicked himself away and did several backflips to get away.

The opponents stared at each other for a few seconds, then Pyrrha charged. Mercury blocked the spear with a kick, then threw another. Soon after, gunshots came from his greaves. Pyrrha still managed to push Mercury away with her shield. Still, there was something in his body language that was unsettling to Aaron.

"He's doing pretty good," Ruby complimented. Back on the floor, Mercury launched another series of kicks, and actually managed to knock Pyrrha's spear out of her hand. He launched another kick, which didn't even make contact with Pyrrha's shield. His momentum forced him off balance and to his knees.

Pyrrha retrieved her spear and rushed Mercury again. The guy kicked off Pyrrha's shield and launched himself far away from his opponent. As the warrior woman charged again, Mercury turned back to Professor Goodwitch. "I forfeit," he said calmly. Pyrrha ran slightly past the guy.

"You don't even want to try?" she asked, clearly surprised.

Back in the stands, Aaron wasn't. That match confirmed his suspisions. Mercury was in fact sizing Pyrrha up. Aaron had done the same with Ruby and Yang when first sparring with them, and had seen other Riders do it to each other on Vroengard.. Still, they always finished the fight. It was the honorable thing to do. Mercury took the coward's way out. After a little more conversation on the floor, the combatants separated and left the stage.

The end of class bell rang and Blake sat straight up. "That is all for today," Goodwitch called from the floor. "And remember the dance is this weekend, but you all have your first mission on Monday. I will not accept any excuses." She turned around and left the room through a staff door.

Aaron stood up. "Well, you girls have fun in your search. I've got to get to Oobleck's."

"Good luck keeping up with him," Yang said.

"Hopefully we'll have some good news when we get back," Weiss added.

Aaron left the amphitheater, and his normal path brought him right by Emerald. As always, she avoided eye contact and walked away. That was nothing new. Yang once said that Emerald might have a 'crush' on Aaron, but he quickly discounted it. He thought he could tell when a girl liked him. Several first second year girls blushed and talked quickly to their friends when he looked their way. Emerald did neither. _You think she could know that I got her at some point?_ Aaron asked Nalia.

 _I don't know how, but it is a possibility,_ his dragon responded.

 _What isn't a possibility here? People can do strange things here and it's considered normal._

 _We can do things that are strange here as well._

Aaron sighed. _Sometimes I wish I was just a normal guy, then I realize that you wouldn't be there._

Nalia huffed. _I believe that's what Yang calls 'smooth.'  
_

* * *

After several hours of searching, Ruby and Cerise landed in the courtyard in front of the Dragonhouse. Against all hopes nobody found anything. It didn't help that Blake stayed behind either. She left for the library after Weiss and Yang said that they were for sure planning the rest of the dance, and never came back. Since the search wasn't an actual mission, Ruby couldn't order Blake to come along, not that she would anyway.

Ruby took out her scroll and looked at the time. "8:30…Ugh, this isn't going to work for long if we always come back so drained."

 _That was without fighting any Grimm as well,_ Cerise added. _I doubt we will always be that lucky._

"It doesn't look like the beeping was the battery dying either." About halfway through the flight, Ruby heard an incessant beeping noise that stayed until Cerise flew back over the city. That broke her concentration while searching more than anything else.

 _It could be your fake eye. It could be running low on power._

"Wouldn't it still be beeping now?" Ruby sighed. "Whatever, I'll go meet up with the others, then I'll be back with you for the night."

 _Don't rush yourself._ Cerise walked back toward the Dragonhouse and Ruby headed to her dorm. Everyone else on a search team was already gathered outside.

"So we found nothing," Ruby stated as she approached.

Yang shook her head. "Nothing. I guess we can't always find an egg under a tree."

"How about we wait until Christmas, and then look again!" Nora cheered, trying to lighten the mood.

"We don't have that long to wait." Ruby crossed her arms. "Then again, we did only cover a small area today, considering how much is mapped out. We could still find at least a clue."

"We have the rest of this week to look before we have to go on our missions," Weiss said. "That's plenty of time to look around."

"Hey Weiss," Jaune began, "think you could check shipping records, for SDC or other companies?"

The heiress looked at Jaune. "How would you think of that?"

Jaune shrugged. "It's on TV a lot. There has to be something in it if so many shows use it."

Weiss stared off into the distance. "It is possible to track things like that, but I'd only have access to SDC's. I'm on shaky ground after getting information on…something else I really shouldn't have been looking into. Other companies only share that information if there's a warrant or court order."

"It was a good idea," Pyrrha acknowledged. Jaune shrugged in response.

Ruby sighed. "Thanks for all your help today. Same time tomorrow?" There were nods of agreement all around. They all entered the dorm and walked toward their rooms. As Ruby walked by her team's mailbox, she saw something inside through the small window. She opened it up and took out a small note. Apparently a package had arrived for her.

A wide smile broke out on Ruby's face. She ran over to the residence hall's mailroom as quickly as she could without using her Semblance. She slammed the note down on the desk. "I have a package to pick up," she spewed out.

The resident assistant on duty raised his eyebrows. "Okay there, speedy, I'm going to need to see your ID." Ruby quickly took out her scroll and set it down next to the note. The RA took it and scanned it. He then looked at a something behind the desk. "Looks like you've got two, actually. I'll go grab them while you sign them out." The RA put a sheet of paper and a pen in front of Ruby, then he walked into another room.

"What's the rush, Ruby?" Yang asked. Ruby turned around and saw her sister walk into the mailroom. "Got a secret life you don't want me knowing about?"

"Remember that thing I've been working on for a few weeks now?" Ruby intentionally placed her natural hand on top of her bionic one. Yang's eyes widened and her jaw dropped a little. "All that should help me get it done."

A smile slowly worked its way onto Yang's face. "Bout time you've made progress on that. Just don't completely disappear again."

"As long as it's done before the dance and our mission. I'd prefer not to go out without it."

The RA walked back into view carrying two large boxes. He set them down on the counter and grabbed the paper from Ruby. "Here you go," he looked down at the paper, "Ruby. Man, a semester and a month in and I'm still learning people's names."

Ruby smiled and took her boxes. "Let's be honest, is there anyone besides Ozpin that's good with names?" All three people in the room laughed at that, then the sisters left.

Yang took off the top box so Ruby could actually see where she was walking. "So where to?" she asked.

"Well, since I'll mostly be working on this at night, not the Dragonhouse. Aaron's an early to bed, early to rise kind of guy, and this would make too much noise."

"Student workshops it is." The sisters walked out of their dorm and into the fresh night air. There wasn't a breath of wind nor a cloud in the sky. It made searching easier, and flying with Cerise enjoyable. The only thing keeping Ruby from insisting on a late night flight with her dragon was her chafing thighs. It was even a problem on her mostly bionic leg. She _really_ needed to look up better ways to prevent it. Extra padding did _not_ help at all.

Yang opened their team's workshop door and held it open for her more encumbered sister. Ruby set her box down on the workbench, making a loud thud. "Thanks for the help, Yang," she said.

"Anytime." Yang laid her box down next to the other two. "Need anything else tonight?"

Ruby thought it over for a second. "Don't tell the others about this. I want to see the looks on their faces when I show up to the dance with 'skin' on my arm."

"Will do. See you when you finally get to the Dragonhouse." Yang left the workshop and closed the door behind her. Ruby turned back to her new supplies and smiled even more. She grabbed a utility knife and opened up the first box. Inside, a large piece of cloth lay folded up. Ruby took it out and looked it over. In hopefully less than a week, that piece of cloth would become her new skin. It was a little weird to think about it like that, but it was true. A bunch of mechanical parts sat at the bottom of the box. Those would be her new nervous system. The other box must have had the chemicals to make the cloth look and feel like skin.

Ruby smiled and called back the schematics and instructions that Penny sent her. She immediately got to work, measuring the exact dimensions of her arm. Cerise sent her own excitement and happiness to her Rider as well. For once, things were going according to plan.

* * *

 **Shoehorned movie references (ding!). Birthday song reference that only a few hundred people in the world will get (ding!).**

 **Remember when I said that it wouldn't be that simple for Ruby to get everything together?...Just wondering.**

 **I've gone through all the previous chapters again, and one more time I will ask; if you see any spelling/grammar mistakes, please yell at me. Hope everyone who celebrates it had a happy and safe Easter.**


	24. Safety Dance

**Wow, I'm starting a backlog again. The last one dried up a while ago. Well, when this hits two hundred favorites, you'll get a second chapter that week. Also, I swear I didn't plan on having the initial hunt for the egg two days after Easter. It just worked out like that.**

 **March Madness may be over, but it's still time to dance!**

* * *

Ruby ceased the flow of energy as the last new scale on Cerise' belly formed. After several hours of work, almost all of the holes in the dragon's scale coat were filled. Cerise hummed and nuzzled Ruby's face. _Thank you, my Gem,_ she said.

"I'm not done yet," Ruby breathed. "I still have to get your leg."

 _You have done more than enough for today. You're exhausted, and you have the dance tonight. You need to look your best._

Ruby rolled her eyes. "I'm not looking forward to those heels. Whoever came up with them had no idea what they were doing."

Cerise hummed happily. _You know that's not what I meant._ Ruby couldn't hold back a smile. After nearly a week of tinkering and testing, she finally thought that her new skin for her bionic limbs were ready to be 'worn.' Even if the nervous system didn't work, she wouldn't have to worry about wearing those gloves anymore.

The only other person to know about the skin was Yang, and even she didn't know it was ready. Earlier in the week, Ruby borrowed a full sleeved dress from Weiss to help with the cover-up. The heiress wanted to have the dress fit for Ruby, but was turned down. It would have only been worn once before it was handed back. White wasn't exactly Ruby's color anyway. She felt kind of guilty for borrowing it and not using it, but at the same time, she only did so in case her skin wasn't ready.

"Well in that case, I should probably start getting ready then." Ruby rubbed Cerise' snout then walked out of the Dragonhouse. She struggled not to sprint across campus to her workshop. As much as she wanted to put the new skin on, she still didn't want to draw attention to herself. Having someone check on her while she was folding the skin around her arm or leg would blow the whole thing, in more ways than one.

As Ruby neared her workshop, she saw Sun and Neptune walking out of the cafeteria. She thought back to after the last sparring class and how Blake turned Sun down for the dance. That was the start of Blake's complete downward spiral. She didn't disappear completely like Aaron did, though she rarely spoke to her teammates and skipped several classes. Yang said she could get her partner to the dance, but Ruby doubted it. Then again, she did snap Aaron out of his funk, and she had no plan going in.

Ruby opened the door to her team's workshop and hurried to pick up the box that contained her new skin. As an afterthought, she locked the door behind her. Then she opened the box, and she carefully removed the portion that would wrap around her arm and hand.

As cool as it was, Ruby was extremely uncomfortable handling the skin. After days of marinating in various chemicals, the cloth gained the exact look, feel, and consistency of human skin. She was never the best at chemistry, so didn't exactly know how it worked. Then again, if it worked for Penny, it worked for her.

Ruby set the large piece of skin on the workbench with the inside up. She looked over the circuitry to see if there were any breaks. While the outside looked natural, the inside looked like a large, flexible circuit board. The entire surface was covered with wires, nodes, and other assorted electronic components. It was designed to take a pounding, and would only fully tear if intentionally cut. Still, she wasn't expecting to be in an Auraless and wardless sword fight anytime soon. Looking back, she realized it was the other side of this part she saw in the cuts in Penny's skin.

She turned her attention to the only part that was fully her design; the connection to where skin met bionic arm. Ruby studied every single attempt to incorporate a nervous system into a bionic limb inside and out. Some didn't do anything other than add weight to the limb. Others though did make the recipient feel something. Unfortunately, that something was excruciating pain, as if they were losing the limb all over again, only all over the new limb. In the end, Ruby decided to take elements of several connections and make her own. The rest of the system should work as it's turned on.

 _You ready if needed Cerise?_ Ruby asked.

Cerise mind flowed into Ruby's. _I'm here. If the worst happens, you won't be in pain for long._ The day before, the two of them had practiced Cerise taking control of Ruby's natural arm to kill the power on her bionic one. Even though it was Cerise, Ruby didn't like feeling her arm move by someone else's command. It wasn't natural. Still, it was better than the alternative.

Ruby took her gloves off and rolled up her right sleeve. She picked up the first connecting piece on her new skin and held it above the correct slot on her arm. Even though there shouldn't be any power in the slot, there was the possibility she did something wrong and it would be active right away. She held her breath and counted to three, then gently connected arm and skin. There was a light click, but no pain shot up her arm. Ruby released her breath, then started wrapping the rest of the skin around her arm.

The process was delicate work. The folds around her all the joints were difficult to get right. Wrapping her fingers was an incredible time sink. A few of them she had to try multiple times. The fact that she was doing it all with one hand didn't help. Ruby thought she should have asked Yang to help, but it was too late for that. Weiss and she were already making the final preparations for the dance.

After she didn't know how long, Ruby held her right arm out in front of her. It looked real enough, if a bit crumpled in places. She flexed her arm several times, testing if there were any spots that were too tight and needed to be adjusted. The crumpled areas actually fixed themselves as the tight areas pulled excess material from where there was too much. Most people wouldn't notice the difference. Only if someone really examined it would they be able to see something was wrong. Probably Coco from a distance too.

Finally, Ruby turned her eyes to the newly expanded control panel on her arm. There were two new buttons, the power on and off for the nervous system. _The moment of truth,_ Ruby thought. Cerise once again flooded her Rider's mind with her own. Still, Ruby tensed up and closed an eye while she reached for the on button. She held her breath as she pushed the power on…

…and felt nothing. No pain, no other feelings. Ruby sighed as she closed the small hatch covering the control panel. Then she snapped her eyes back open and stared at her hand. "Was that…" She stared at her hand, then blew a small puff of air at it. A huge smile broke out on her face. She felt it. She actually _felt_ it.

Ruby moved her arm through the air, feeling the air flow by. She increased the speed, and ended up spinning in a circle in the center of the workshop. In a state of pure ecstasy, Ruby laughed and jumped around the workshop. She ran both her hands through her hair, taking an extra-long with her right. Not exactly knowing what she was doing, she set her right hand down on the workbench, picked up a hammer, and slammed it down on her hand. That was the first time Ruby has happy to be in pain.

When she finally calmed down, Ruby sat down in a chair and held her head in her hands. "I did it," she whispered. "I really did it."

Cerise hummed over their mental link. _You are becoming whole again, my Gem. Just don't forget about your leg._

Ruby blinked, then looked down at her bionic leg under her tights. She took a few deep breaths to calm her racing heart, then rolled up the pant leg and took off her shoe and sock. From there she repeated the process she used on her arm. Since she had use of both hands this time, the work flew by.

When her leg and foot were all covered, Ruby again braced for pain when she hit the on button, but it never came. She ran her newly covered hand over her leg, and she nearly exploded out of her chair. While her excitement wasn't as full force as before, it was still a breath of fresh air.

Tears of joy ran down her cheeks. "Normal knees again." Ruby rolled her sleeve and pant leg back down. She replaced her footwear and picked up the gloves from the workbench and stared at them. They weren't needed anymore. They could be thrown away. Then again, Ruby planned on surprising her team at the dance. She put the gloves back on for hopefully the last time, then left the workshop.

A message appeared in the top right corner of her vision. _Two hours until dance?_ She thought in disbelief. _How long was I in there?_

 _Quite a while,_ Cerise said, her own happiness flowing off her like a river. _You have time._

 _Good thing I'm not as obsessed with makeup as Weiss._ As Ruby walked across campus, she had to fight to keep a smile off her face. Even though her bionic limbs were covered, she felt the wind on them through her clothes. She shivered ever so slightly, but not from the cold.

Ruby returned to her dorm room and dramatically opened her wardrobe. She stared up and down her red and gray dress. Her eyes traveled to the bottom and her shoulders slumped. "Heels make everything worse…"

* * *

"Nalia, are you sure this is right?" Aaron asked his dragon as he adjusted his tie. "This thing's practically choking me."

 _The woman at the store said that this suit fits perfectly on you,_ Nalia responded. _If I were a human woman, I'd say you look very handsome._

Aaron looked up at his dragon with slightly narrowed eyes. "Don't be creepy." Nalia huffed, but didn't say anything else. "I'd better get going. Don't want to be late."

 _Have fun. Don't break a leg._

"Ha, ha." Aaron left the Dragonhouse and started walking toward the ballroom. Back in Alagaësia, he never had the chance to attend a ball or a dance of any kind. Everyone he knew who had been to one though said they were amazing. Still, Aaron didn't exactly know how to dance. He might just be standing by the wall for most of the time.

As Aaron neared the ballroom, he saw Ruby stumbling in the same direction. If he didn't know any better, he's say Ruby was drunk. "Need a hand?" Aaron called.

Ruby turned back to face him and smiled. "I'm good. I already have one." She held up her right hand and waved. Aaron chuckled. If they were alone, Ruby would have taken that arm off and waved it with her left hand.

Aaron walked over to Ruby, and he looked at Ruby's right arm. It looked normal. He shook his head, figuring it was just the light from the light poles playing tricks on him. As he got closer though, he saw that was not the case. Her arm was wrapped in something that looked exactly like human skin. "Uh, Ruby, when did that happen?" Aaron pointed at Ruby's right arm.

The younger Rider's smile grew. "Three hours ago. Took me all week, but I did it." Ruby's smile grew even more. "It works, too. I can feel again."

Aaron drew a sharp breath in. "How is that possible?"

Ruby smirked. "My little secret." She turned around on a heel, or tried to anyway. She lost her balance and started to fall over. Aaron caught her though before she could fall far.

"You feeling okay Ruby?" Aaron asked, genuinely concerned.

"I'm fine, it's just these heels." Ruby lifted up and turned her left foot. A long stick stuck out of the heel of the shoe.

"That doesn't look safe." Aaron stared at the stick, trying to figure out why anyone would wear a shoe like that.

"I know! Right?" Ruby freed herself from Aaron's arms. "I don't know why these are a thing, but people love them!"

"Well then," Aaron stuck his right arm out at an angle with his fist on a hip, "would you like some help balancing?"

Ruby blinked a few times and blushed in the moonlight. "Oh, umm, sure." She looped her left arm through Aaron's and the two continued to the dance together.

"I saw what you did for Cerise. That was some nice work."

"I ran out of time to get to her leg though. Then again, if I went on, I'd probably be in bed right now. That was exhausting. How long does it take for magic to get easier?"

"You only started a month and a half ago. It normally takes about six for a Rider to get comfortable with it. You've got a long way to go." Ruby made a grumbling noise but she still had a smile on her face.

Aaron pulled open the door to the ballroom and the two Riders stepped inside. Yang was standing behind a podium and was wearing a white dress. Her hair was still as messy as ever. The blonde looked up and her eyes settled on her sister. Her face lit up. "Oh, you look beautiful!" she squealed. Finally, Yang noticed Aaron, and her eyes drifted to where the other two Riders' arms were intertwined. Her eyes drifted again to Ruby's right arm and her eyes grew wide. Yang looked back at Ruby's face, who just smiled and nodded. "Is there something going on here?"

"The only thing going on is these heels." Ruby lifted a foot off the ground and fell into Aaron's side. "Can we have a serious talk about how Weiss fights in these?" Yang burst out laughing, but at what part, Aaron couldn't tell.

"Your guess is as good as mine, sis," Yang finally got out. "You're going to have to explain that to me later though." She pointed at Ruby's right arm.

"I believe I owe all of you that explanation." Ruby freed her arm from Aaron's and she stumbled all the way over to the punch bowl. Aaron watched her go, if only to make sure she didn't fall flat on her face.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yang staring at him. Aaron turned back to the blonde. "Is there something wrong?"

"Were you just escorting Ruby, or are you two here together?"

Aaron paused of a second, unsure of how to answer. "I just saw her stumbling outside and I offered her some support. It's as simple as that."

Yang blinked, then smiled. "I'm always forgetting that you pretty much live by chivalry. Carry on and have some fun." Aaron nodded and walked over to where the food was. Not surprisingly, Ruby was also over there. As Aaron approached though, he felt Yang's eyes boring into the back of his head.

As Aaron reached the food table, he heard the main doors open up again. He saw Blake and Sun walk in, her arm on his. Yang had another small freak-out session, then took Blake's other arm. The two girls made their way to the dance floor, and started their own dance, different from literally everyone else in the room.

"Looks like Yang did it," Ruby said by Aaron's side.

"Do two women usually dance together here?" he asked while scratching his head. "I never heard of such a thing back in Alagaësia."

"Girls dance with girls. guys dance with guys. There doesn't have to be a relationship in there. Anyway, Blake and Sun are kind of a thing."

"Ruby Rose!" Aaron heard Weiss yell off to the side. He turned to see the steaming heiress storm over to him and Ruby. "You asked to borrow a dress of mine, so where…is…it?" Weiss slowed down and her eyes grew wide, most likely looking at Ruby's right arm.

"Sorry Weiss." Ruby scratched behind her head with her right hand. "You were right. I should have gotten it fitted correctly."

Weiss stayed silent for a few seconds. "And that?" She pointed roughly at Ruby's arm.

Ruby smiled. "I promise I'll explain everything when we all get back to the room."

The heiress hesitated and smiled. "Well, at least you found something that fit well."

Soon after, Yang joined her other teammates by the punch bowl. All four of them looked at Blake and Sun dancing. For the first time in a long time, Aaron saw a genuine smile on Blake's face.

"I told you she would come," Yang said.

"Mission accomplished," Weiss agreed.

"It looks like the team is back to full strength." Aaron looked at the girls around him, then back at Blake. It had been slightly less than two weeks since they went after the White Fang, but it all felt so much longer.

"So…what do we do now?" Ruby asked while looking back and forth between her teammates.

"Just have fun!" Yang said before walking back to her podium. Weiss also turned and walked away.

Ruby turned frantically between the two. "Does this mean I can change out of these stupid things and into my hood now?" She looked down and groaned. "Stupid lady stilts…"

Aaron lightly chuckled at Ruby, then felt Nalia press against his mind. _Ask her to dance,_ she said.

 _Wait, what?_ Aaron turned to look in the general direction of his dragon.

 _Ask her to dance._ Nalia had a mischievous feel to her thoughts.

 _First Yang, now you? What's going on here?_

Nalia mentally hummed. _You may not have noticed it, but you've had a feeling in the back of your head since we rescued Violet. It's only grown since she refused payment from taking out the Nevermores' base._

Aaron messed up his face as he stared at the wall. _Are you saying I have feelings for Ruby? She's my student._

 _Why else would you tell her **everything** on that balcony? You barely even admit any of that to me._ Aaron blinked a few times then turned back to Ruby. Since he started his conversation with Nalia, Professor Ozpin had snuck in and started a conversation with Ruby. Aaron searched his own head for the feeling that Nalia spoke about. Ruby was smart, funny, and, he had to admit, cute. Still, she was his student from the day they officially met. That kind of relationship was forbidden back on Vroengard. Then again, theirs wasn't a master and apprentice relationship, and the old rules didn't completely apply anymore.

Aaron sighed and shook his head. _Fine, but only to get you off my back._ He hung back while the other two finished their conversation. When Ozpin left, Aaron took his place by Ruby's side. He stuck a hand out like he had seen so many other people do. "Ruby, may I have this dance?"

Ruby looked up at Aaron with a mixture of confusion and fear. "Um, what?"

"I asked if you would like to dance. That's what you do at these things, right?"

Ruby blushed and rapidly looked between Aaron and presumably where Cerise lay. "But...I can't dance…"

"I'll lead." The truth was, he didn't know how to dance either. Aaron just watched everyone else in the room and how they moved. He hoped he could at least replicate it.

"It's a slow dance" Ruby looked back to the floor. Her head sunk in between her shoulders.

"I know." Aaron didn't know the significance of a 'slow' dance compared to a fast one though.

Ruby looked back up at Aaron, a nervous smile on her face. "Heels?" Her voice was even more higher pitched than normal.

A corner of Aaron's mouth rose. "I won't let you fall."

The red Rider blushed even more and turned toward Cerise again. After a few seconds, she faced Aaron again and nodded. Ruby hesitantly took the other Rider's hand. The two of them made their way out onto the dance floor. They found an empty spot on the dance floor and joined in with the rest of the students. Even as Ruby took her first steps in the dance, she looked extremely uncertain on whether it was a good idea to be dancing.

Aaron was in a similar boat. While he tried to keep a smile on his face, inside he was worried about not making a fool of himself. _One, two, three. One, two, three. Step, in, time. Don't-step, on, her-feet._ As the two Riders slowly danced in a circle, Aaron looked and listened around. People were having conversations while dancing, so Aaron decided to strike one up. "You do something with your hair?" he asked.

Ruby blinked and blushed again. "Uh, yeah. I accented the red before I came here. It's not too much is it?"

"I kind of like it." Ruby's cheeks turned a deeper shade of red, then she lost her balance. She started to fall backwards, but Aaron caught her just in time. He belatedly realized that their position made the fall look like and intentional dip. Aaron pulled Ruby back to her feet and smiled. "Told you I wouldn't let you fall."

"Thanks." Ruby smiled again but her cheeks turned even more red, most likely from embarrassment that time though. "How many times have you done this before? You're doing too good for a first timer."

Aaron gently shrugged while still keeping in rhythm. "This is a first time for me actually. Never danced with anyone before."

Ruby blinked. "You're lying. There's no way you can be this steady right away."

"If you haven't noticed, you're keeping up really well too." The two Riders continued their dance until the music stopped. From there, they left the dance floor and returned to their places by the punch bowl. They stood awkwardly by each other's side while the next song played.

"Uh, I'm going to go find a bathroom," Ruby mumbled, then walked away, only stumbling a little in her stick heels.

Aaron sighed, then turned his head toward the Dragonhouse. _Happy now?_ he shot at Nalia.

 _Are you?_ Nalia sent back with more than a hint of amusement in her voice.

 _Well, yeah, but, since when do dragons play matchmaker for their Riders?_

 _Well, when our Riders like someone and we approve…_

 _Nalia, please drop it._ Aaron pulled back into his own head, then realized at some point Yang showed up by his side. "Can I help you with something?'

Yang crossed her arms. "Are you sure there's nothing going on between you two?" She asked with a neutral face.

Aaron narrowed his eyes in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

The other Rider rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Are you and Ruby becoming more than just friends?"

Aaron stood silent for a second. "I thought you called this a 'dance,' and I figured you should dance at a dance. How was that any different from when you and Blake danced?"

"Because everyone knows Blake likes Sun, and Ruby is my baby sister. If anyone gets that close to her, I need to protect her."

Aaron chose his words wisely, and decided to say them in the Ancient Language to remove any doubt from Yang's mind. _"There is nothing going on between me and Ruby."_

Yang's face stayed blank for another few seconds, processing the words. Then a small smile formed on her face. "Good, cause if there was, we would have to have a conversation you wouldn't enjoy."

"I don't doubt that." Aaron turned his attention back to the dance floor, yet Ruby's smile was stuck in his head.

* * *

Ruby's knees were shaking as she stood on the balcony overlooking the dance floor. _That was…different,_ she told her dragon for the umpteenth time.

 _Was is a good different?_ Cerise asked.

 _I…I don't know._ Ruby's mind went back to Aaron and her dance. It was so sudden. She just finished telling Ozpin that she wasn't a dancey kind of girl, then Aaron comes out of nowhere and asked her to dance. He was insistent too. Couldn't he tell that she didn't want to dance? What was that about Ruby being Aaron's first dance partner? Did that mean something in Alagaësia?

 _Admit it, you enjoyed it._ Cerise sent her amusement to her Rider.

 _Be quiet, will you? I'm already going to have to deal with Yang._ Ruby turned her head to the left and saw her sister and Aaron walking over to her. _Speaking of which…_

"There you are," Yang said. "How was your dance?"

Ruby sighed. "Okay, I guess? I don't really have anything to compare it to." The three teammates looked out over the dance floor.

"Y'know, I think we really needed this," Yang said.

"Some of us more than others," Aaron agreed.

"You did a great job planning it, too." Ruby said while watching Penny start a dance of her own.

Yang smiled and put an arm around her sister's neck. She pulled Ruby in close for a choke hold. Ruby flailed her arms trying to get free. "Aw, thanks. It wasn't all me though, Weiss did a lot too."

Ruby stopped flailing around and looked back down to the floor. Weiss was sitting alone until Neptune walked over to her. His body language said he was nervous, but he still took a seat beside Weiss.

Yang released her sister and sighed. "Tomorrow it's back to work."

"The official mission and our two side missions," Aaron started. "This week is going to be busy."

"Well, I'm sure we can handle whatever gets thrown at us." Ruby heard a lot of laughter coming from below her. She looked over the railing and saw Jaune in a white dress making his way onto the dance floor. "Except for that."

"That brings back memories," Aaron mumbled.

Both sisters turned to look at the guy. "Don't tell me you wore a dress at one point," Yang said, barely keeping a straight face.

Aaron scratched the back of his head. "I lost a bet. Had to wear one for an entire day."

There was silence between the three for a few seconds, then Ruby and Yang burst out laughing. "I wish I could have seen that," Yang managed to get out.

"You'd make it look good," Ruby said while covering her mouth.

Aaron's cheeks turned red, then his head snapped around and his eyes went blank. "Sorry girls, but I've got to go," he stated in his 'I mean business' voice. He turned around and quickly walked toward the doors.

"What's going on?" Ruby asked, concerned. She stretched her mind out in the direction Aaron looked. It didn't take her long to find the one panicked hiker.

 _Stay out of this one you two,_ Nalia cut in. _Aaron and I can handle this. No reason to over commit._

Ruby sighed and Yang curled her fingers into fists. "Yang, what's wrong?" Ruby asked. "They've got this."

"Last time Nalia told me she didn't need backup…" Yang looked at her sister with sad eyes.

Ruby put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Yang, where they're from, they're professionals. At this point, I'd trust their experience over my own. If they say they can handle it, they can." She paused. "We didn't know about the combat Bullheads that day. The guy out there now is being chased by Grimm, not people."

"Why is he out there alone anyway?" Yang leaned down on the railing.

"Beats me." Ruby backed away from her sister. "I'm going to get some fresh air." Just as she was backing away from the railing, she saw team JNPR start a combined dance on the floor. Ruby walked down the stairs and out into the courtyard outside the ballroom.

The outline of an envelope appeared in the top right corner of her vision. Ruby blinked to open it, and a text message from Penny displayed on her right eye. 'I saw you were able to make the skin. Is the rest working for you?'

Ruby smiled and looked around herself. "So far, everything's working fine," she whispered. The words appeared under Penny's message. "Send." The messages disappeared and the words 'message sent' took their place.

Motion on the roofs of the buildings across from Ruby caught her eye. There was someone running and jumping across rooftops. That couldn't be good. It wasn't common for people to report stolen items at Beacon, but it wasn't unheard of.

Ruby narrowed her eyes at where the suspect disappeared behind a roof. That person could very well be the egg thief, or know who it is. _Cerise, I'm going to check something out._

Cerise sent her concern through her thoughts. _Be careful, Ruby._

 _Don't worry, I'm sure I can take one person._ Ruby walked in the general direction of the thief. She had to walk around a few buildings, but she more or less made it a straight line. Hesitantly, she stretched her mind out to try and figure out where exactly the person was. Unfortunately, she didn't exactly know what to look for since every person's mind was different.

One though, stood out. Instead of it being open like the rest, it was walled off. The way it was done though was foreign to Ruby. Yang's defenses only allowed the attacker to see an image of Zwei, while Aaron's was one of Nalia's scales. The dragons' minds felt completely different no matter if they were defended or not. This wall was nothing but darkness. There was someone else at Beacon who could shield their mind.

With this in mind, Ruby creeped around even more cautiously. She was prepared to bring up her own mental defenses at a moment's notice. The base of the CCT tower came into view as she walked around another corner. Inside, other people were losing consciousness in one way or another. The shielded mind was in the center. Ruby gasped as she saw armed guards lying on the ground. She pulled out her scroll and punched in the code to bring Crescent Rose to her location.

Her rocket locker crashed down a few seconds later. It popped open and Ruby grabbed her weapon. _Yang,_ she called, _there's something going on out here, I may need backup._

Yang's response didn't take long. _Can you wait for me or someone else?_ she asked, concern evident in her thoughts.

Ruby winced as two more people lost consciousness. _I don't think so, I have to move now._ She extended Crescent Rose ran as fast as she could in her heels toward the tower. The lobby was littered with more guards. Ruby bit her lip as she called an elevator. Whoever did this was experienced. The young Rider didn't think she'd be able to take down a room full of guards and move on.

The elevator doors opened and two more guards lay on the floor. Ruby winced as she stepped in. She turned around and almost placed her own scroll against the ID scanner. It wouldn't work at that time. She bent down and searched on of the guards for his. "Sorry about this," Ruby said as she took the guard's scroll and placed it against the scanner. The elevator doors closed and the car moved up.

Ruby took several deep breaths as she moved up. _Don't think about last time,_ she thought to herself. _Think about what you know. It's only one person. Whoever it is, he or she can shield his or her mind. The only other one who can do that are on my team._ Slight dread overtook Ruby. _Could the egg have hatched for the thief?_

There wasn't time to dwell on it though. The doors opened and Ruby stepped out into the main communications room. "Hello?" she called. As she took a few steps forward, she tripped on her heels again. She scowled at them again, the continued scanning the room. "Is anyone there? Hello?" Of course, Ruby knew exactly where the intruder was. She was just trying to give whoever it was a chance to give up, not that her or she would take it.

A woman dressed completely in black stood up from behind the reception desk. She slowly walked out from behind it at stared at Ruby. "Excuse me," the Rider said, "You know, it's not a masquerade party, so why don't you take off that-"

The woman grabbed a vial off her belt and swung it in front of her. The particles left behind condensed into glass. Ruby swung her scythe in front of her to block the glass as they became projectiles. She finished the spin by pointing the business end of her weapon at the intruder. Multiple Dust rounds shot out of Crescent Rose and at the intruder, but she blocked every single one with her hand. The intruder spun around and formed two short swords out of the glass.

Ruby fired Crescent Rose behind her and launched herself at the woman. Somehow, the attack missed as the intruder backflipped out of the way. Somewhere in the between the first and second flip, the woman's swords became a bow. She fired three explosive arrows at Ruby, who barely managed to get out of the way. Ruby dug the end of her scythe into the ground and stared at the intruder.

The Rider heard the elevator doors open behind her. She turned around to see General Ironwood step into the room. Ruby smiled, confident with the backup the intruder would be outmatched. But when she turned back to face her opponent, she was gone. No mental walls, or any minds besides Ironwood's.

 _Ruby! What's going on up there?_ Yang called. _I could have sworn I heard gunshots._

 _Has anyone left the building in the last few seconds?_ Ruby sent back.

There was a moment of silence. _No one's left. You okay?_

Ruby sighed and folded up Crescent Rose. _I'm perfectly fine. General Ironwood is here now though. I don't think I'll be able to leave for a while._

Yang mentally sighed. _Okay. I'll fill the others in. Just don't say anything bad up there._

 _I won't,_ Ruby promised, then contacted Cerise. _I don't suppose you know where she went._

Cerise mentally growled. _No. She disappeared from there and I can't place her anywhere else. She's gone._

There was a pause before Ruby spoke next. _Do you think the egg could have hatched for her?_

… _I don't know._

* * *

 **That was the first dance scene I've ever even thought about writing. I think that's how dances are supposed to know. I honestly have no idea. I'm sure I had a reason behind saying Ruby's arm will have problems…It'll come to me.**


	25. Seeing Green

**Now for something that's new for team RWBY: a mission that is school endorsed.**

* * *

All members of team RWBY, minus Ruby, stood in the main dorm room as they waited for their young leader to return from Ozpin's office. She was called away early in the morning for a meeting, undoubtably about what she saw the night before. Aaron watched as Yang paced the room, concern radiating off her. "I'm not being too big sistery, am I?" Yang asked her teammates.

"Ruby can take care of herself," Aaron said. "After what she's been through, I can't blame you."

"I know that it was only one person, but I just can't get that scene out of my head." Yang shook her head and hugged herself. "If I never see that again, it will be too soon."

"You might be bordering on overprotective though," Weiss chipped in. "You can't be by her side all the time."

"We're a team," Blake added. "If someone messes with one of us, he messes with all of us. Then there's the dragons and the rest of Beacon."

"Not to mention possible Atlas military support if those two soldiers keep their word." Aaron crossed his arms. "We're essentially the most well-armed and well-defended team at Beacon. People would be insane to try and take us out. If we do meet any White Fang out there this week, they should be hesitant about taking us all on."

 _If I'm worried about Ruby,_ Cerise cut in, _only then do you have reason to worry. She won't be taken down easily…I do thank you all though for being worried about my Rider. She's on her way back now._

Yang sighed and turned to Aaron. "I never asked, where exactly did you disappear to last night?"

The one guy on the team shrugged. "Just a hiker that was a little too overconfident in his skills. But he was acting awfully shifty."

Yang nodded. "Well, I guess it's mission time. Actually," she turned to one of the desks in the room, "I think Ruby would like to see what dad sent us first."

Aaron looked at the brown tube. "What did he send that he couldn't have brought when he was here a few weeks ago?"

"Sorry, but this isn't medieval times," Yang said. "We can send not important stuff all the time and it's no big deal." The door to the room opened and Ruby stood in the doorway. The three other girls on the team flashed over to the door. "What happened?"

"Uh, well umm, ehehe, uh," Ruby stammered, "Can I come inside first?" Weiss, Yang, and Blake backed up enough for Ruby to fully enter the room and close the door behind her. "Well, that woman I fought wasn't an ordinary criminal. She took down like twenty guards in a few minutes, and I couldn't even get a solid hit on her."

"How'd she fight?" Weiss asked as she crossed her arms.

"She had two short swords that could be joined at the hilts to form a bow. Everything she used was made of glass, even her weapon. She could even deflect bullets with her hands, but none of those are the worst part." Ruby looked up at Aaron and Yang. "Her mind was shielded."

Aaron's eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"That, or her mind is just full of a dark wall."

"What's so significant about someone having a shielded mind?" Blake asked.

"Up until last night, we were the only ones around who could," Yang stated.

"As far as I can tell, no one in Vale can shield their minds naturally." Aaron crossed his arms and grimaced. "We're the only ones, and what do we have in common?" He turned to Yang.

The blonde stood still for a few seconds, then her shoulders dropped. "We're all Riders. The last egg."

"She was wearing gloves, so I couldn't get a look at her hands," Ruby said, sounding drained. "I really hope we're wrong about this."

"She could be someone with a telepathic Semblance," Blake said. "Like, what's his name, Doctor X?"

"If Doctor X was more like Magnetik." Yang shook her head. "Well, we got something in the mail that might take your mind off this." She walked over to the desk with the brown tube.

"What's that?" Ruby asked.

Yang picked up the tube. "I don't know yet. Dad sent it to us. I thought we could open it together."

Ruby let out a high pitched squeal. "Something from home!" She disappeared in a flash, leaving rose petals in her place. When Aaron saw her next, Ruby had her legs wrapped around her sister's waist and her arms were flailing at the tube. Aaron sighed and shook his head.

After a few seconds, Yang jolted the tube down and a black cylinder fell out the bottom. To Aaron's surprise, the cylinder bounced twice, then it grew four legs a tail, and a head. The Rider blinked rapidly, trying to understand what just happened.

The dog barked twice, and all the girls jumped and squealed, though for different reasons. "Zwei!" Ruby yelled.

"He sent a dog?" Blake demanded.

"In the mail?" Weiss asked.

"How is that possible?" Aaron scratched his head. There was no way that dog should have fit in that tube. Dogs weren't _that_ flexible. Blake jumped and hid on Ruby's bed. Possibly as surprising as Zwei coming out of the tube, Weiss actually liked the dog. Then again, she did have a soft spot for dragon hatchlings.

The PA system crackled to life. "Will all first year students please report to the amphitheater," Goodwitch announced.

"Well we can't exactly leave him here while we're gone for a week," Weiss said with her hands on her hips.

Yang reached inside the tube. "Look there's a letter. 'Dear girls, I've got to leave the island for a few days, so I'm sending Zwei to you to take care of. Enclosed is all the food you should need. Love you both, Taiyang.'"

"'All the food you should need?'" Aaron scoffed. "There's no way-" Yang turned the tube upside down and dozens of cans shot out of it. Aaron slumped his shoulders. "Umm, what?"

"What is he supposed to do with that?" Weiss asked, not even questioning how not even half of those cans could fit in the much smaller tube.

Yang shook the tube once more and a can opener fell out. "Well, that settles it. Come on girls, Zwei will be here when we get back." She threw the tube over her shoulder, and Aaron caught it. He looked inside, and it was exactly the same length on the inside as the outside. Curious, he stuck an arm in the tube and it hit bottom exactly where he expected it to.

"I am so confused," Aaron said as he looked up. Ruby was the only other person left in the room, and she was looking intently at Zwei. The older Rider sighed and dropped the tube. _Nalia, what is going on here?_

His dragon took a few seconds to respond. _When in doubt, just say it's a Remnant thing._

 _You're no help._ Aaron left the main dorm room and proceeded to catch up with the other members of the team. They didn't make it far. A few seconds later, Ruby ran up and joined the group carrying a large backpack. "What's in there?"

"Oh, just stuff I think we'll need on the mission," Ruby said innocently. Aaron swore he saw the backpack move though. He sent a small tendril of focused thought at the backpack, and found out that Zwei was inside. Aaron sighed and shook his head. This day couldn't get weirder.

"So what are your dragons going to do while we're on mission?" Weiss asked.

"They won't be far," Aaron answered. "If we are going after…you know who, they'll need to be close by to provide support. Even if we don't, the extra strength would be greatly appreciated against the Grimm."

"If at all possible," Yang added, "me and Halcyon are going flying together. He should be big enough now, and I want to get airborne. I don't care if it's bareback, I'll take it."

"Bareback on a horse is one thing, bareback on a dragon is another experience entirely." Aaron winced as he remembered the first time Nalia whisked him away.

Team RWBY arrived at the amphitheater just as professor Goodwitch called for silence. Ruby put her backpack with all the others, and joined her team near the back. Aaron threw her a sideways glance, but she either didn't see it or ignored it. Up on the stage, Goodwitch spoke again. "Professor Ozpin would like to share a few words before we begin." She stepped back and the headmaster took her place at the microphone.

"Today we stand together, united. Mistrel. Atlas. Vacuo. Vale. The four kingdoms of Remnant. On this day nearly eighty years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who traded with whom. But about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self-expression. And as you all are well aware that was something many could not stand for.

"As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself. Color. It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither would the generations to come. And it was a trend that is held to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity. Through diversity.

"As I have said, today we stand together, united. But this bond cannot exist without effort. Which is why today while the rest of the world celebrates peace, Huntsmen and Huntresses will work to uphold it. As first year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional huntsman or huntress, on a mission. Some of you may be taken out of the kingdom for several days. Others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best."

The crowd burst into applause and started to disperse. Team RWBY gathered in a small circle. "This is perfect. All we have to do is shadow a Huntsman working in the Southeast."

"Yeah! We'll follow them around by day and give them the slip at night," Yang stated while making dramatic hand motions.

"Let's check search and destroy," Weiss suggested. The team turned and walked toward the mission select screens.

"Can I ask you girls something?" Aaron asked while scratching his head.

Yang turned around and smirked at him. "I think you just did."

Aaron rolled his eyes. "When we first met, how didn't my name give me away? I didn't know the whole color name thing when I met you."

"Change your two As for and I and you got Iron," Ruby stated. "It's not as strange as some other ones."

Aaron gave a sideways shrug then focused ahead again. Just then, an awfully familiar mind came into his mental radius. He turned to look in the direction. It was too far out to pinpoint it for sure, but it was approaching fast. He shrugged, figuring he would find out in the next few minutes.

* * *

Ruby entered her team's name into the selection screen. The team was finally ready to take on the White Fang, all they needed was the transportation and reason to get to the general area. Quadrant Five was in the suspected area, so team RWBY took the mission in it. Unfortunately, the mission for whatever reason wasn't available for first year students.

"Wonderful," Weiss said sarcastically.

"Any other ideas?" Blake asked.

Ruby turned to her team. "We mail ourselves there." Aaron brought a hand to his face, then quickly looked over his shoulder.

"Well that's one option," a familiar voice behind Ruby said. She turned around and saw Ozpin walking over to her team. "Unfortunately, we determined that the concentration of Grimm was too extreme for first year students. It seems that particular region is rather popular. In fact I have the sneaking suspicion that the five of you will make your way there no matter which job you choose."

Ruby felt the eyes of her teammates bore into her as she scratched the back of her head. She tried to play it off though. "Whatever makes you say that?"

"I'm still curious as to how you all found yourselves at the docks last semester. I'm interested know how you really learned about a 'hideout' in the Southeast. And I certainly wonder why witnesses reported seeing robots and rose petals in a dance club some time ago." Ruby stammered a little during Ozpin's not-quite-an-accusation-speech.

"I doubt I'll ever find the exact answers I'm looking for. Instead of waiting for you all to break the rules, why don't we just bend them?" Ozpin hit a few buttons on his tablet and the selection screen reset itself. The members of team RWBY looked around themselves and smiled at each other. Their plan was working out after all.

Ruby turned back to Professor Ozpin. "Thank you professor."

"Do not thank me for this. Teamwork and persistence have carried you far, but you must understand, the things that await you beyond the protection of the kingdom will not care. Stay close to your huntsman at all times. And do exactly as he says. He will be leading you on this mission. And he can have you sent back to Beacon, if he finds your skills to be unsatisfactory." Ozpin walked away for a few seconds, then turned back. "Good luck." This time he walked away for good.

As soon as Ozpin was out of sight and earshot, Ruby fist pumped. "Yes! We are doing this!"

Aaron nodded. "It seems we are. I should probably go-" once again his head snapped to the side. His eyes grew large and his mouth dropped open. "No way…" He sprinted out of the amphitheater.

The rest of team RWBY stared after him. "Either of you know what that was about?" Weiss asked Ruby and Yang.

"I'm not sure." Ruby stretched her mind out in the direction Aaron looked. It didn't take her long to figure out what got him so excited. The Rider sisters locked eyes, Ruby seeing an equal amount of shock in Yang's. They sprinted for the door, leaving Weiss and Blake in their dust.

Ruby and Yang left the amphitheater and turned toward the secondary landing pads. Far ahead, Aaron stood like a statue. The two sisters stopped by him and stared at a Bullhead that just landed. Team CVFY was disembarking, all of them looking exhausted, but uninjured.

A green dragon hatchling practically stood on top of Velvet's feet.

The three Riders of team RWBY looked at each other in shock. The egg was missing and Velvet found it? What are the odds? Ruby took a look at Velvet's hands, and saw a silver mark on her right. There was no mistaking it now.

Halcyon and Cerise soon joined their Riders on the ground while Nalia hovered just overhead. The green hatchling looked over at the other Riders and squeaked. Velvet looked up and locked eyes with Ruby. She blinked a few times then looked over at Coco. The two of them had a short conversation, then Velvet walked over to the other group. She rubbed her arm and looked at the ground. The hatchling dutifully stayed by his/her Rider's side.

"Hi guys," she said nervously.

"Velvet," Aaron breathed, "you…"

"I didn't find the egg if that's what you're wondering." The hatchling looked up at his Rider and cocked his/her head. "After about a week in the village, we repelled a massive Grimm attack. One of the kids from the village ran up to Coco and gave it to her. I believe he said that his dad found it in the forest nearby for him." Ruby looked at Cerise. Velvet's story sounded a lot like theirs. "What was the egg doing out there anyway?"

"About two weeks ago," Ruby started, "the egg was stolen from the Dragonhouse. We didn't have many opportunities to got out and look for it, but depending on how far out you were, we wouldn't have found it anyway.

Velvet nodded. "Two nights later, he hatched while I was on watch. I don't know if you three were shocked when you first touched your dragons, but I was. That really hurt."

"That's the natural reaction, Velvet," Yang said with a smile on her face. "A few minutes of pain is well worth what comes after."

"Fox and Coco didn't think so at first. When I came to, they were yelling at Yatsu to get out of the way. He was saying that you two might have gone through the same thing when you met your dragons."

Yang looked at the ground, then at Cerise. "We had similar reactions when Cerise hatched for Ruby, only none of us thought that Cerise was harmless."

"What's his name?" Ruby asked, her excitement growing by the second.

Velvet frowned and blinked a few times. "I haven't named him. I figured you would want him back, especially since his egg wasn't supposed to be out that far." The hatchling whimpered and rubbed its full body against Velvet's leg.

"He's yours Velvet," Ruby said through a huge smile.

"You better get used to him," Yang said, crossing her arms. "You're stuck with him forever."

Velvet hesitated, then smiled. "I hoped you would say that." The hatchling squeaked again, and started purring.

"I didn't think this was possible," Aaron said, scratching his head.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

 _The bond dragons formed with others only includes elves and humans,_ Nalia answered in a stunned voice. _Faunus share many more traits with those two than with the other races in Alagaësia. Still, I would not think that this is possible._

Velvet leaned down and stroked her dragon's back. He purred even more and arched his back. His Rider was careful to avoid the spikes on the dragon's back. "I did have a name in mind," Velvet said. "How do you like Vert?" The hatchling squeaked again and jumped onto his Rider's shoulder.

"Ruby," Weiss called from behind said girl. "You ran off without your…bag." The heiress appeared at the edge of Ruby's vision. Blake arrived soon after. Both of them stared at the several day old hatchling standing on Velvet's shoulder. Apparently Vert hadn't figured out that he was getting too big to do that.

"Thanks Weiss." Ruby took the backpack from her partner and slipped the straps over her shoulders. She felt Zwei move around a little inside, and hoped the dog wouldn't bark.

Vert stood on Velvet's shoulder looking at the new arrivals. "He's a cute one," Weiss said, a smile forming on her face.

"That's all three now, isn't it?" Blake asked.

Aaron nodded. "All three eggs I escorted have hatched within a month of each other. That almost never happens."

"I guess you were in the right place at the right time." Ruby patted Aaron on the back.

The green hatchling jerked his head to the side and growled. Velvet looked at her shoulder ornament, then followed his gaze. "Vert, don't hurt them." She stroked her dragon's head. "They're bullies, but they're still students here." Confused, Ruby turned around and saw team CRDL walking nearby. She maintained a neutral face, but on the inside, she wholeheartedly supported Vert.

"How did you feed him out there?" Blake asked Velvet.

"The villagers helped out initially because of the stories they heard about Nalia and Cerise from the news. Toward the end though, Fox and Yatsu brought back a few animals for him." Velvet winced. "It's not the easiest sight seeing him eat."

"It does take some getting used to," Ruby agreed.

Cerise took a few steps forward and looked Velvet in the eyes. _Did you happen to keep any pieces of the egg shell?_ she asked.

Velvet blinked. "Yes, but why?"

 _It may still have the thief's scent on it._ Cerise growled lightly. _Even though it turned out to be beneficial, we don't like egg thieves. Whoever did this needs to pay._ Halcyon growled his agreement and Ruby, Yang, and Aaron nodded.

"Okay…" Velvet hesitantly reached into the box hooked onto her belt and pulled out a couple of pieces of egg shell. She handed them to Ruby, who in turn held them out to Cerise.

The dragon sniffed the pieces several times, then looked back toward the Dragonhouse. Cerise' pupils shrank to slits, then grew back to normal size. _Maybe we've been searching for the scent..._ Cerise thought, her eyes becoming distant. She knelt down so Ruby could put the eggshells in a saddlebag.

Coco finally walked over and placed a hand on Velvet's other shoulder. "Come on Velv, we have to report in." She looked over to Ruby and lowered her sunglasses. "I thought you had a bionic arm."

"Still do," Ruby said while gripping her right arm. "The skin's new as of last night."

The leader of team CFVY cocked her head. "I would love to hear how you accomplished that, but we have to get going, and I don't want to make you late for your mission."

Ruby blinked a few times. "Oh yeah, we have to be at the main landing pad in," she looked at her scroll, "thirty seconds! We got to go."

Velvet laughed. "Hope you all have better luck than we did."

"We'll have to have a talk when we get back," Aaron told Velvet. "Congratulations Rider." He walked off toward the landing pad. Ruby rushed to get in front of him. She was team leader, it only made sense she should take the lead on the way to their first official mission. Vert squeaked as they all walked away.

"Well, at least we know that whoever in the tower last night wasn't a Rider," Yang said.

"The egg hatched for someone else we know too!" Ruby squealed. "I doubt that happens very often." Aaron chuckled and shook his head.

"If you wanted, you could form a team of exclusively Riders now," Weiss said jokingly.

Yang turned to look at the heiress. "You never know, that could be a thing. What would it be though? I can't think of any colors that fit the letters."

"We did have ANCR about a month ago, thanks to the media," Blake put in.

"There is RYVA," Ruby suggested.

"Do you know who we're supposed to be meeting?" Aaron asked.

The question brought Ruby's mind back to the mission. "I believe it's—" she looked at her scroll and stopped in her tracks. "Oh no."

"Why hello team RWBY!" she heard someone say. She looked up to see Doctor Oobleck standing in front of her. "Who's ready to fight for their lives?" Out of the corners of her eyes, Ruby saw her teammates making various faces of disgust. All of them except Aaron anyway. He wore a friendly smile.

"Professor Oobleck?" Weiss said with no small amount of distaste.

"Yes I'm afraid those bags won't be necessary team," Oobleck started, and showed no signs of stopping, "seeing as you've opted to shadow a huntsman on what is now essentially a reconnaissance mission. I can assure you we will not be establishing a single base of operations. Rather we will traversing several miles of hazardous wasteland, and making camp in any inhabitable locations we may stumble upon. I've packed all our essentials myself provided the air course and readied the airship. And!" He got all up in Weiss' face. "It's Dr. Oobleck. I didn't earn a Ph.D for fun thank you very much."

"Uhh," the heiress let out.

"Come now children, according to my schedule we are already three minutes behind, schedule." Dr. Oobleck ran to the Bullhead on the main landing pad at a speed that rivaled Ruby.

"Well alright then looks like we're going to save the world with, Dr. Oo-bleck okay yeah when you say it out loud it sounds worse." Ruby said dejectedly.

"I don't see why none of you like him," Aaron said. "I've had much worse, at a much younger age."

 _They all meant well,_ Nalia chipped in, _and they made us into who we are today._ Aaron shrugged

"You're going on world-saving missions without us?" Ruby heard Nora say from behind her. She turned around to see team JNPR walking up. "I'm hurt and sad! Maybe a little hungry, that last one's not your fault though, Ren!" Nora glared at her partner who just turned away.

"I have to ask, did you guys see Velvet on your way over here?" Jaune asked.

Ruby smiled. "We did, and little Vert looks like he's doing well."

"So that's all eggs hatched now, correct?" Pyrrha asked Aaron.

The first Rider of the team nodded. "That's all I came here with. All the dragons are in capable hands. I should be able to catch Velvet to Yang and Ruby in training fairly quickly, if she wants to learn, of course."

"So where are you heading?" Jaune asked. From there, the conversation turned into talking about each team's respective missions. Ruby didn't really pay attention though. She was focused on how the last egg had hatched for a friend. Velvet was a good choice for Vert to make. She was kind, caring, and a good fighter when it came to it. Velvet was another person that wouldn't leave for many, many years to come. Still, she probably won't take being told that she could potentially live forever well.

There was something else that disturbed Ruby. Vert didn't hatch for the woman from the tower. Who was she, and how did she shield her mind?

"Four minutes, team RWBY!" Dr. Oobleck's yell brought Ruby out of her trance. She looked up and saw sympathetic faces on all her friends.

"Well, uh, wish us luck," Ruby said, then turned around and walked toward the Bullhead. Her team followed and they all filed in.

"Hold on back there, there is a slight tailwind at our expected cruising altitude. This could get bumpy," the pilot called back. Yang, Weiss, and Blake looked at the cockpit with shocked expressions.

"Are you kidding me," Yang breathed, then she walked into the cockpit. "It is you!"

"Am I missing something?" Ruby asked, looking back and forth between Weiss and Blake.

"He's the pilot we had when we were searching for…" Weiss stopped herself and barely glanced at Dr. Oobleck.

"When you were searching for Miss Rose," the strange teacher finished in an uncharacteristic somber tone. He looked directly at Ruby. "Professor Ozpin filled me in when you took this mission. I'm afraid that knowledge is imperative for a mission leader to know."

Ruby shrunk back and leaned against the wall behind her. "I understand." She rubbed her bionic arm and stared out the door. The Bullhead's engines sped up and the transport lifted off the ground. Those inside grabbed the bars above their heads and Yang walked out of the cockpit. Three dragons took off from Beacon and followed, though at a considerable distance.

"Ozpin also told me that you have a Bionic arm," Oobleck said, returning to his normal voice. "Both of yours look real. Care to explain?"

"I do," Ruby responded hesitantly. She lifted her right arm from her side and hit it against the metal bar above her head. Despite the layer of marinated cloth, a metallic ring filled the cabin. "Ever since I got back, I've been working on getting feeling back into my arm. Last night, it all came together, and I can feel everything on my bionic limbs now."

Dr. Oobleck's eyebrows raised. "My word! You have to be the first one on Remnant to have achieved such a feat. There have been many trials before, but none were successful. How have you done this?"

Ruby shrugged. "My little secret. It's not complete anyway, I still need to get a gun in this thing."

Yang gently punched her sister's arm. "You'll get it eventually." She turned to Dr. Oobleck. "So doc, may I ask why you're leading this mission?"

 _BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_ Ruby looked around the cabin for what was making that noise. It was the same one from when she was out searching for the egg with Cerise. "Check power levels," she murmured. Three power bars appeared on the right side of her vision. None of her bionic body parts were below half charge. Still, the mechanical beeping would not go away. No one else in the Bullhead appeared to hear it either. Ruby tried to pay attention to the conversation, but her frustration was rising.

"The southeast quadrant outside of Vale is home to wild forests and deep caves," Dr. Oobleck said. "But, it is also the location to one of the kingdoms greatest failures."

"Mountain Glen," Ruby finished, more than a little of her frustration finding its way into her voice.

"That's right, it was an expansion of Vale," Yang chipped in, throwing a glance at her sister. "But in the end it was overrun by Grimm and fenced off from the rest of the city."

"Correct! And now it stands abandoned, as a dark reminder," Dr. Oobleck said.

"And a likely place for a hideout," Blake finished.

Oobleck adjusted his glasses. "Precisely."

"Ruby, you feeling okay?" Aaron asked.

The team leader groaned. "I've told you all about the beeping right?" There were nods all around, except by Dr. Oobleck of course. His posture simply stiffened. "Well, it's back and it won't go away."

"When did this start?" Oobleck asked, sounding deathly serious.

"About a week ago, when me and Cerise went flying." Suddenly, as quick as the beeps started, they stopped. Ruby sighed. "And apparently it doesn't like me talking about it."

Dr. Oobleck relaxed slightly and looked out the door. "It appears we are approaching out drop zone. Arm up!"

Team RWBY did as ordered and drew their weapons. As Ruby extended Crescent Rose, she saw a new attachment to Aaron's rifle. "When'd you get the grenade launcher?"

Aaron smirked. "Friday. I've got a bayonet too, but they can't fit at the same time."

"More friendly explosions are always appreciated," Yang said as she armed Ember Celica. She turned and jumped out of the Bullhead.

Ruby watched everyone else hit the ground. "Here we go." She sent a quick thought to Cerise, then dropped to the ground herself, ready to face anything the ruined city could throw at her.

* * *

"Boss, Little Red has left the city again," a man behind a computer said.

The Boss turned to the man. "Where is she heading?"

The computer man took a few seconds to answer. "Looks like they're heading right for Mountain Glen." Boss sighed. Mountain Glen, White Fang territory. As much as he would like to kill two birds with one stone, he didn't have the manpower to take on the degenerate terrorists and some overpowered huntresses in training and their dragons. Even with the manpower of the northern mountain base, they wouldn't have stood a chance.

"Turn off the tracker. Wait until we have confirmation from Mercenary before activating it again."

"You got it boss." The computer man said. He hit a few buttons on his keyboard then froze in place. "We just received a message from Queen."

That piqued Boss' attention. "Send it to my screen." He turned slightly to his right and watched as the message appeared. It seemed they had new targets. Velvet Scarlatina and her newly hatched dragon. Boss smirked. Getting rid of the others was revenge, killing the degenerate would be fun, at least for one of his men. If the idiots at the northern base were correct in their assessment of dragon scales, they would certainly be valuable to sell, not to mention the leather that hid beneath.

Boss transferred the new information to a folder that contained the rest. The amount of Lien offered to kill only four children was staggering, but most likely well placed. Whoever Queen was, she wanted these dragons and Riders dead. Boss would have killed them all anyway for putting his brother in an Atlas prison. The money was an extra side effect.

Boss pulled up all the profiles one by one. Aaron Benson, Yang Xiao Long, Ruby Rose, Velvet Scarlatina. The Boss first found out about Aaron when the assisted in assaulting the warehouse in Vale. The last, he didn't know existed until the kill order came in. The middle two, though, were coming back to haunt him. He focused on the one they were tracking. His business had enough trouble with a Rose years ago, how her daughters were continuing her work. Even though one was heavily drugged, she still escaped captivity with the help of the other. Boss snarled. "I should have killed you when I had the chance. Don't worry though, dog. You'll meet your mother soon enough."

* * *

 **RYVA: river, or a way to say it in some sort of accent. Also, while I was figuring this out, I noticed for a while we had team ANRCHY…How didn't I notice that?**

 **Admit it people, at least a few of you thought the egg hatched for Cinder. Keep in mind though, Cinder 'has' Kevin. I couldn't give her a second.**


	26. Mountain Glen

**If someone told me when I started out that this story would reach two hundred favorites in less than six months, I would have laughed in his/her face. Now I still laugh because I didn't think this was possible. Thank you to all of you, regardless of whether you were around from the beginning or not! In thanks, you will get another chapter on either Friday or Saturday.**

 **Haven't done a Grimm fight in a while, time to change that.**

* * *

Aaron looked down the sights of his V4, ready to take down any Grimm that showed its face. Lucky for everyone involved, the area they landed was clear of any creatures. He could feel the minds of several nearby, but their negative energy kept Aaron's mental radius down to a minimum. He lowered his weapon slightly and stood in a more relaxed stance.

"Ladies and gentleman, you still may be students but as of this moment your first mission as huntress and huntsman has begun," Oobleck said. All of team RWBY looked at the mission leader. "From this point forward you need to do exactly as I say. Do you understand?" He turned slightly to Ruby. "Ruby! I thought I told you to leave all your bags back at school." Said girl dropped her scythe on the ground and recoiled.

Ruby stuck up a finger. "But, uh you hadn't told us to listen to you yet...so I didn't." Aaron sighed and closed his eyes. He knew the real reason Ruby brought the bag, but that was not what you say to a mission leader.

"She's not wrong." Oobleck brought a hand to his chin. "Very well Ruby leave your bag here we can pick it up upon our return."

"But I, whaa…" Ruby stammered.

"Young lady! What in the world could you possibly have in that bag that could be so important for you to bring it-" as Dr. Oobleck spoke, Zwei poked his head out of the bag and started panting.

"Get back in the bag," Ruby told her dog, but Zwei just barked.

"We're here to investigate an abandoned urban jungle teeming with death and hostility and you brought, a dog?" Aaron narrowed his eyes in confusion. Oobleck's tone suggested he was furious, but Aaron got a completely different feeling from his mind. Ruby stammered under the scrutiny.

"Genius!" Oobleck continued. He grabbed Zwei from Ruby's bag and held the dog in the air. "Canines are historically known for their perceptive nose and heightened sense of sound, making them excellent companions for huntresses such as ours!"

Ruby closed her eyes and pointed to herself. "I'm a genius." Aaron, Weiss and Yang facepalmed. Everyone else knew she got lucky.

"So, what are your orders doctor?" Blake asked.

"Ah! Yes! Straight to the chase, I like it! As you have been informed the Southeast area has been marked as a recent hotspot for Grimm activity. Now there are several possible explanations for this behavior. One of which being, Grimm." Oobleck stiffened and focused straight ahead of him.

While the rest of his team stood confused, Aaron turned around and saw a single Beowolf walking out of an alley. He brought his V4 up once again and aimed it at the creature.

Ruby looked between Oobleck and Aaron. "Uh, what?" she asked.

"I think he means that Beowolf," Aaron stated calmly.

"What?" Yang exclaimed as the whole team turned to face the Grimm. The girls of the team drew their weapons and aimed them at the Grimm. A single Beowolf wouldn't last a second under their combined firepower.

"Stop!" Oobleck ordered. Aaron took his eyes off his target and turned to face the mission leader. "There are a number of reasons why Grimm would congregate in this particular area. The most likely of which would be their attraction to negativity. Sadness, envy, loneliness, hatred, all qualities that are likely held by our hidden group harboring ill intent."

"So, what now?" Ruby asked.

"We wait, we track, if the specimen leads us to its pack, that pack may subsequently lead us to our prey."

"How long do we wait?" Yang asked.

Aaron shifted his look to the blonde. "Five seconds until the rest of the pack walks around the corner." Due to his initial experiences with that type of Grimm said that Beowolves rarely traveled alone. He searched for the rest of the pack with his mind the second he saw the first.

Yang looked at the alley that the Grimm came out of. She blinked then raised her fists. "Yep, there's a lot of them coming." A second later, more Beowolves came into view.

"What?" Weiss said in disbelief. The first Beowolf looked right at Weiss.

"And now they've seen us." Oobleck stated calmly. The two's exchange was repeated, only more frantic.

"What's the plan then?" Yang asked.

Almost all eyes turned to Dr. Oobleck. Aaron's stayed focused on the incoming horde. "Show me what you're capable of," he heard. He shifted his grip to the grenade launcher's trigger.

Ruby slammed the tip of Crescent Rose into the ground. "Cover your ears Zwei," she said. Yang, Weiss, and Blake ran forward, while Aaron fired a grenade at the pack. It exploded dead center of the pack, killing many of Grimm. Aaron quickly switched his grip back to fire the rifle and fired off burst after burst at the pack. Each burst sent one Beowolf to the ground never to rise again. Still, after Aaron emptied a full magazine into the Grimm, Ruby still hadn't fired a shot.

As Aaron reloaded, he cast a glance at his team leader. Ruby stood frozen, her eyes practically glazed over. She was staring right at Zwei's head, and on closer inspection, Zwei's ears. There was a slight tremble to her arms. "Ruby!" Aaron yelled. Ruby turned her head to face him, and apparently that was enough to snap her out of her trance. She clenched her eyes and shook her head, then focused on the Grimm pack, already cut down to just over half of its original strength.

Sniper fire finally joined with assault rifle, each pull of a trigger sounding the death of another Beowolf. At some point, Ruby shot forward and sliced several grim in half. Aaron stayed back, providing fire support from a distance. He knew he couldn't go the whole mission with just his V4, he simply didn't have the ammo. After he emptied his second mag, he slung the rifle over his shoulders and drew Redemption and his shield.

While he didn't have the speed the other members of his team, Aaron had the most intensive training in Alagaësia. As he closed on the first Beowolf, he swung his sword at the creature's head and it continued through with little resistance. The next two were cut in half through their midsections with one swing. Some Beowolves were actually able to swipe at the Rider before they were cut down, but each one was blocked by the shield. Over the fight, Aaron's wards didn't even drain.

As the last Beowolf fell, Aaron looked around the battlefield. Unlike the other members of his team, he did not like slaughtering the Grimm. Yes, they were creatures of evil and their only instinct was to kill, but they were still alive. Aaron was just getting over killing those four White Fang members. All those Grimm wouldn't send him over the edge again, but he still wouldn't be walking off the battlefield with a smile on his face.

Then there was Ruby. Just before she joined the battle, she froze up. She was afraid of her own dog. The few moments Aaron caught a glimpse of her in the battle, Ruby looked like she was enjoying herself. She even had a smile on her face as she talked with Dr. Oobleck. As the mission leader turned away, Zwei walked over to Ruby's side and barked. She looked down at her dog and the fear returned to her eyes. She quickly followed Dr. Oobleck, leaving her dog behind.

Aaron looked over at Yang, only to find her staring back. She tapped the side of her head, signaling she wanted a mental conversation. _I take it you saw all that too?_ Aaron asked.

Yang nodded. _Of all the things I expected her to react to, Zwei wasn't one of them. She was fine back at Beacon, what happened?_

 _Has she gone to see a…what do you call them, counselor? Therapist?_

The older sister shook her head. _She says she has us, that we're all the support she needs. I think dad thought that Zwei would help too. We see how that worked out._ Yang looked directly at Aaron. _You are the only one here who even comes close to knowing what she went through. She'll probably hate me for asking this, but if she breaks…_ she let the thought hang.

Aaron nodded. _Though she won't admit it, I'm sure Nalia asked the same of Ruby._

Several growls came from up the road. Team RWBY raised their weapons and aimed them down the street. "Here we go again," Weiss said. The pack came and fell just like the first, as did the next three. Aaron switched completely to Redemption and his shield when he emptied all but two magazines. Better have them for something a bit tougher than a Beowolf.

After several hours, team RWBY stood in a circle around Dr. Oobleck. "Excellent work team!" the mission leader said. "Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any signs of criminal operations in this sector. Oh well, moving on!"

Yang stepped forward. "Hey doc you know I was actually looking forward to seeing a pro huntsman in action. Like fighting or at least helping us fight?" Her tone was slightly accusatory.

"Ah, but I am in action," Oobleck shot back, "scouring the ruins of this once great city for any signs of irregularity. Not every mission is filled with terror and heroism girls. Sometimes it's just a heightened form of extermination. Remember, this is a job, and you all signed up for it. I do hope you understand that."

Yang shifted on her feet. "Well, yeah. O-of course!"

"It could be worse," Aaron chipped in. "We could be arbitrating a trade treaty between the elves and dwarves."

The other members of team RWBY stared at him. "You've done that?" Weiss asked in disbelief.

Aaron shook his head. "Other Riders have though. The most arbitrating I've done is between farmers over one acre of land. I'll leave that to those who are trained in the field." He turned around and once again followed Dr. Oobleck.

Over the next hour, the mission leader questioned Yang, Weiss, and Blake over why they wanted to be a huntress. Aaron didn't pay attention. He figured his time was coming soon enough. At the moment though, he was more worried about taking on the Grimm in the area. He didn't know how many he cut down, but there was always another to take its place.

"What about you, Aaron," Oobleck asked from behind the Rider. "Why did you become a Rider?"

Aaron cut down another Beowolf before turning to face the mission leader. "I didn't really have a choice in the matter. All ten year olds where I'm from are required to be brought before eggs to see if they will hatch. From there, we're trained to be Riders."

Oobleck stood silent for a few seconds. "I see you've been spending too much time around Miss Xiao-Long. Let me amend my question. Why do you fight?"

"I made some poor choices in my early life, even though I had to make them in order to survive. I'm fighting to redeem myself from all the crimes I committed." As Aaron talked, he knew the words were hollow. That was only a part of the truth, nowhere close to the whole thing.

"I see." Oobleck looked around himself, then walked in close to Aaron. "You are telepathic, correct? Read my mind. We need to have a conversation without the others knowing." He turned away and called the rest of the group to move on.

Aaron followed the mission leader as he walked away. He hesitantly stretched out his mind and contacted Oobleck. As expected, his mind was more active than a dozen newly hatched dragons, yet it all worked together. _What's this about?_

 _I fear Ruby may be in grave danger._

There was a slight hitch in Aaron's step. _Something tells me you aren't talking about her mental state._

 _That is only a small part of it. I have been investigating the Nevermores for several years, after they killed a prominent huntress. Not many prisoners manage to escape, but when they do, many end up either being recaptured, or found dead in their beds._

Aaron resisted the urge to look over at Ruby. _Do you know how this is possible?_

 _Some of the escapees' return to civilization were heavily televised all over the kingdom, if not all of Remnant. It wouldn't be hard to track them down. The ones found dead were killed by electric shock. None of those incidents showed evidence of forced entry or faulty wiring. Their autopsies revealed implants that could deal that level of damage, and track the host's location._ Dr. Oocleck's head lowered slightly. _The Nevermores somehow managed to engineer these implants to not appear on normal X-rays or similar scans. The exact makeup changes each time._

This time, Aaron couldn't help but throw a glance at Ruby. She was humming something and looking around the ruined city. _So Ruby could drop dead at any time? Why don't you want her knowing?_

 _Because the only evidence I have is the beeping Ruby described. There is also the factor of all the other Faunus rescued from that base. Ruby may not have the implant, but those other children might. If something happens to them, I fear what she might do to herself._

Aaron unintentionally shrugged his left shoulder. _I can imagine._ He paused. _Why are you telling me this?_

 _You and Yang may be able to find the implant where science has failed. If Ruby knows, I fear she won't be able to focus until it is found, if it's even there._

 _And she won't rest until she know all the other Faunus are truly safe._ Aaron sighed. _This isn't going to be easy._

 _Things like this rarely are._ Dr. Oobleck turned to look a single story building. "This is our next stop team. I'm going inside to investigate." He walked through the broken down doors and disappeared inside.

"Either of you feeling any Grimm nearby?" Ruby asked Aaron and Yang.

"Not this time," Yang said, rolling out her shoulders. "I think we're good for at least five minutes."

Weiss sighed in relief. "Good. I could use a break. These Grimm are relentless today."

"We've been through worse," Blake said.

Ruby rested the blade section of Crescent Rose on the ground and leaned on her weapon. "That Nevermore during initiation was difficult, but I wouldn't say it drained me as much as all this."

Blake turned away slightly. "You weren't with us."

The team leader looked confused for a second, then something clicked. "Oh." Ruby's head drooped, then jerked it skyward and cocked her head. Aaron turned to look in the same direction and saw Cerise flying overhead. She flew low and fast and dropped something from her claws. The object fell, and landed right on the spike of Crescent Rose. It only took a second to see the object was a cooked chicken.

"Well that was unexpected," Yang said, then watched Cerise continue flying in the same direction. "What was that about?"

"Cerise said we deserved a cooked meal," Ruby stated while watching her dragon. Zwei barked and jumped for the chicken. Ruby smiled, then held the chicken a few feet over Zwei. The dog got up on his hind legs and reached for the food. Aaron crossed his arms at the sight. Why was Ruby okay with Zwei now and not at other times?

Oobleck walked out of the building and over to Ruby. Apparently she didn't see him coming, and quickly folded up Crescent Rose. The chicken went flying. "Sorry! Uhh, are we ready to keep going?" she asked.

The mission leader stood silent for a second, then said, "No, I believe that will have to do for today. It's going to be dark soon." He threw his pack over to Yang, who barely caught it. "You four, set up camp in that building. Oh and please do make sure that there are no more of those, creatures. Your leader and I are going to secure the perimeter, come Ruby." Dr. Oobleck walked away with Ruby in tow.

Aaron looked up and got underneath the flying chicken. It landed in his arms, and it started draining his wards to protect from heat. "This is definitely dragon roasted," he claimed.

"How did they get all the feathers off?" Weiss asked.

"I stopped asking that question long ago." Aaron turned to look at the building Dr. Oobleck mentioned. "Second or third floor?"

"Third should be good," Blake said, also turning to the building. "There anything in there?"

"Not even a rat." Yang looked over to where Ruby and Oobleck walked off. "We better get set up before those two get back." The four teammates walked into the building and up the surprisingly intact stairs.

Aaron walked closely behind Yang. _I take it Oobleck already talked to you?_ he whispered.

Yang's shoulders sagged and she turned her head back. _How am **I** supposed to sleep after that?_

 _If they wanted her dead, they would have done it by now. They can try to take her again, but they'll have to go through all of us._

 _I hope you're right. I really don't want to see her in that situation again._ Up ahead, Blake broke down a door. Even though Yang already confirmed that there were no Grimm in the building, Blake still held Gambol Shroud at the ready.

Everyone followed Blake into the former apartment. Aaron looked around the main room. It was mostly barren and cleared out, but a few pictures still hung on the walls. "You think they got out in time?" he asked no one in particular.

"Considering there are no bones in here, I think it's likely," Blake said, finally sheathing her weapon. She walked into another room. "This looks like a good a spot as any to set up."

Aaron walked into the room and looked at the giant hole in the wall. There was a slight breeze coming through and it had a slight chill to it. "We should probably get a small fire going. It's going to get a little chilly tonight."

Yang walked into the room carrying several plates and a large serving platter. "Figured it would be better to use these than eat off the ground," she explained.

"Do you know how long those have been sitting there?" Weiss asked. "We might as well be eating off the floor."

Aaron concentrated on the plate stack and said a few words in the Ancient Language. All the dirt and grime on the plates moved to the edges and off. "There, now they're all cleaned and sanitized," he said. Yang set the platter on the one table in the room and Aaron placed the chicken on top. He took the bayonet attachment off his belt and began carving up the chicken.

"Are you sure that's sanitary?" Weiss asked from behind him.

"This is essentially how I ate for the past three years. It's not the best tasting, but it's better than nothing." Aaron cut off a wing and shifted his mindset. "So today went well."

Yang sighed. "I can't believe we didn't find anything."

"We've always been fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time," Blake said. "I guess we can't always have luck on our side."

"That's not what I meant," Weiss stated out of the blue. Aaron turned around to face her, and saw someone had already gotten a fire going.

"Huh?" Blake turned to face Weiss.

"Earlier, about, upholding the legacy. There's more to it than that."

Yang nodded. "Yeah, no me too. I mean, I don't know."

"I don't know either," Blake agreed. "I know what I want to do but, I figured I'd always take things one step at a time."

Aaron sighed. "I thought I had this figured out too, but my words were hollower than these walls."

"Well, it doesn't matter, we know why we're here." Yang paused. "Right?"

"Ah wonderful!" Dr. Oobleck said from around the corner. He sprinted into the room and stopped right by the fire. "A textbook campfire."

Ruby walked into the room as well. "Fire!" She knelt down and held her hands over the fire. "So, warm." Aaron looked over Ruby intensely but discretely, trying to find any irregularities that could give away the position of a tracker implant.

"Very good, eat your dinners and hurry to bed. We have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow and we'll need you to take turns keeping watch over our temporary abode, any volunteers for first watch?" Oobleck looked around the room.

Ruby raised a hand. "Yo." Oobleck sped away again, and one of the plates and pieces of chicken disappeared. Ruby stood up and walked over to the chicken table.

"Hey," Yang said as her younger sister passed her, "did Oobleck ask you why you wanted to be a huntress? I mean, what did you tell him?"

"Yeah." Ruby shrugged. "I told him the same thing I always say. I want to help people. Being a huntress is the...best way I can do that." Her eyes fell and she walked to the lookout spot. Yang stared after her sister, her mouth hanging open.

Aaron sighed. "Well, dig in. I feel like this is going to be a long night."

Ruby looked over the ruined cityscape. She was exhausted and had to force herself to stay awake. That was the most physically tasking day since, well, ever. The days she was learning to use her new limbs didn't count. At least she was fighting Grimm and not people.

Then there was the fact that the green egg was found, and it hatched for Velvet. Ruby smiled at the thought. She was happy for Velvet, even though she would have preferred the egg hatching for either Weiss or Blake. Velvet was probably the gentlest student at Beacon, as long as she wasn't fighting Grimm. She would make a great Rider, Ruby thought. Vert made a good choice.

 _Cerise, you still awake?_ Ruby called her dragon.

 _I will be until you aren't,_ Cerise returned.

 _What do you think of Vert so far?_

Cerise hummed over their mental link. _I can already tell that he will be a gentle giant someday._

 _Why did he growl at CRDL then? That doesn't seem friendly to me._

 _He was protecting Velvet. Something tells me they won't be bothering her any time soon._

 _So how was your day?_

 _Slightly less eventful. We found a cave that is big enough for all of us. Nalia's putting Halcyon through agility training. From what I've seen, he'll be able to carry Yang without a problem._

 _Any progress in figuring out who stole Vert's egg?_

Cerise mentally growled. _Before, we were only focused on the natural smell humans and Faunus put out. Then I smelt something else on the egg shell, what you call 'makeup.' Even then I passed it off, as something Weiss or Blake were trying out. I remember that smell from the day after the egg was stolen, but not any other time. One of us should be able to match the scent I got off the egg shell to someone._

 _But...there was something else. Burn Dust, a lot of it, along with smoke. There were a few other kinds as well. Unless his egg fell into a pile of Dust, I think someone tried to destroy his egg._

Ruby stared back toward Beacon. _Will he be okay?_

 _Our eggs are tough. It takes strong magic to break them from the outside. If his egg didn't crack beforehand, he should be fine.  
_  
Ruby nodded, then looked inside the room her team was sleeping in, or at least attempting to. Yang had her eyes open and Aaron was rolling over for the thousandth time. Ruby looked down slightly and saw Zwei sleeping by her side.

Something felt like it stabbed Ruby's heart. _What's happening to me?_

Cerise flooded her mind into her Rider's, the equivalent of a physical hug. _Nothing is happening to you._

Ruby looked in the vague direction of her dragon. _I froze up when I focused on Zwei's ears. Zwei! He'd never hurt me._ She brought her legs up and hugged them. _I'm falling apart._

 _Don't let these feelings control you. You are stronger than them._

 _But they won't go away. It's not just Zwei either. A while after we started, I wasn't looking for White Fang, I was looking for Nevermores. It has to be related._ _You know how I felt when I told Doctor Oobleck I want to be a huntress._ Ruby rested her head on her knees. _What if I'm not cut out to be one?_

Cerise stayed silent for a few seconds. _If you really believed that, I would fly you back to Patch as soon as we return from this mission. You don't, I know it. You know this is the best way you can help other people. Don't throw this away over one day._

Ruby nodded, then movement outside caught her eye. A lone Beowolf stood among the ruins of a nearby building. A message appeared on the right side of her vision. 'Test life force theory on Grimm.' Ruby blinked, then focused on the Beowolf. She stretched her mind out to the Grimm. The creature was missing something alright. The distinct feeling Ruby got off Penny was absent, and the other energy that everyone else had burned bright.

Bright probably wasn't the best word choice though. The mind of the Beowolf was filled with hate and hunger. No other emotions showed themselves, or left any indication that they could be shown. Ruby grimaced at the creature. She couldn't feel any sympathy for the Grimm. They were pure evil.

A regular bird flew by. Curious, Ruby sent her mind toward it. The bird's mind was alien, yet more friendly than any Grimm. From the strange feelings Ruby got from the bird's mind, it was flying back to it's nest with a late night meal for its chicks. _I can see why Aaron said being in another's mind makes our job harder._ Ruby thought.

 _I would be worried if you didn't have problems taking lives,_ Cerise soothed. _It's the dragon's job to be more aggressive, and the Rider's job to be more diplomatic._

Neither spoke for a few seconds. _What if we do find the White Fang out here? Will I be able to fight them, or will I freeze up again?_

 _You will fight because you have to. Your team is counting on you to lead them through this mission. We all have your back._

Ruby tightened her grip on her legs. _What if we lose?_

Cerise hummed sadly. _Worrying about the future doesn't suit you, my Gem. The second you let your doubt control you is the second you lose. Stay positive. Think of all the good you are accomplishing because of what you're doing._

 _I wish you were here._ Ruby sighed then turned back to the room. Yang was already staring at her. She looked away though when she was noticed. Ruby stared back outside, trying to put the evil thoughts behind her.

* * *

Aaron stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep. The whole time he was trying to figure out _why_ he was doing what he was doing. Redeeming himself was only part of it, but he had no idea what was missing. After a lengthy conversation with Nalia, he finally figured it out.

Apparently he wasn't the only one awake. "Blake, are you awake?" Yang asked.

Blake took a second to respond. "Yeah."

"Why do you think he asked us about being a Huntress? Like, what was he trying to say?"

"Maybe he was just curious." Agitation crept into Blake's voice.

Yang rolled over to a shoulder. "Ya think?"

Again, Blake stayed silent for a second. "No."

The blonde returned to laying on her back. "Weiss, are you awake?"

"Of course I'm awake! You two are talking," Weiss snapped. "And I think he... When I said I wanted to honor my family's name, I meant it. But... it's not what you think. I'm fully aware of what my father has done with the Schnee Dust Company. Since he took control, our business has operated in a... moral grey area."

"That's putting it lightly," Blake interrupted.

Weiss sat up on her bedroll. "Which is why I feel the need to make things right! If I had taken a job in Atlas, it wouldn't have changed anything. My father was not the start of our name, and I refuse to let him be the end of it." She laid back down, her testimony over.

There was a slight pause before anyone spoke again. "All my life, I fought for what I thought was right," Blake began. "I had a partner... named Adam. More of a mentor, actually. He always assured me that what we were doing would make the world a better place. But of course, his idea of a perfect future turned out to be... not perfect for everyone. I joined the Academy because I knew Huntsmen and Huntresses were regarded as the most noble warriors in the world. Always fighting for good. But I never really thought past that. When I leave the Academy... What will I…how can I undo so many years of hate?" Her voice was filled with sadness toward the end.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out," Yang comforted. "You're not one to back down from a challenge, Blake."

"But I am!" Blake insisted. "I do it all the time! When you learned I was a Faunus, I didn't know what to do, so I ran. When I realized my oldest partner had become a monster, I ran! Even my... Semblance! I was born with the ability to leave behind a shadow of myself. An empty copy that takes the hit while I run away."

Aaron sighed loudly, getting the girls' attention. "He asked me why I became a Rider, and I told him how it really happened. He wasn't amused by how literal I took his question." The Rider paused. "Then he asked me why I fight. Maybe originally I fought to redeem myself, but that fell apart quickly. Don't get me wrong, I still do, but there's more than that."

Aaron turned his head to finally face the group. "Or maybe there's less than that. I haven't been doing what I should be. I've been running and hiding for over three years, saving my own skin. The only time I've really felt like I was doing something right in all that time was when we were going after the Nevermores."

"What do you think you're doing here then?" Weiss asked. "We aren't exactly having a picnic here."

"That's the problem, I'm _here_ and not back home. As soon as I figured out Dust could pass through a normal set of wards, I should have gathered as much as I could and gone back to Alagaësia. I could have taken Galbatorix out by now if I went back with my V4 and enough ammo."

There was silence in the room. "'Taking people out' isn't exactly your style," Blake said.

Aaron returned his gaze to the ceiling. "To protect the people of Alagaësia and to avenge the deaths of so many, I'll do what I have to." Nalia flooded her mind into her Rider's and mentally hummed.

It was Yang's turn to sigh. "At least you three know what's going on. I've just kinda always gone with the flow, you know? And that's fine, I mean, that's who I am. But how long can I really do that for? I wanna be a Huntress...not really because I wanna be a hero. But because I want the adventure. I want a life where I won't know what tomorrow will bring.

"Or at least I thought that's what I wanted. After I told Dr. Oobleck I was a thrill seeker, Halcyon called me out for lying. The thing is, he's right. I don't know when it happened, but that's not me anymore. It might have been when Halcyon hatched for me, it might have been when we took on the Nevermores, but I'm not out here for adventure anymore."

Aaron looked back over at Yang. She was propped up on an elbow looking into the fire. "I'm not like Ruby," She continued. "She's always wanted to be a Huntress. It's like she said. Ever since she was a kid, she dreamt about being the heroes in the books. Helping people and saving the day and never asking for anything else in return. Even when she couldn't fight, she knew that's what she wanted to do. That's why she trained so hard to get where she is today."

Her eyes flicked toward her sister and back again. They turned glassy as they looked around the team. Yang's mind brushed against Aaron's and probably everyone else. _But that was the first time I ever heard her doubt it._ She shook her head and stared at the ceiling. _I want my confident, bubbly baby sister back._

 _We all do, Yang,_ Aaron assured over the link the team shared.

Weiss sat up again on her bedroll. "Well, she's still just a kid."

"She's only two years younger," Blake said, also sitting up. "We're all kids."

"Where I'm from," Aaron chipped in, "Ruby's the only one who's under aged. That's not taking in the fact that she's a Rider. None of us are exactly kids."

"And look where we are," Yang added, none of her internal concern leaking through. "In the middle of a war zone and armed to the teeth?"

"It's the life we chose," Blake agreed.

"It's a job," Weiss interjected. "We all have this romanticized vision of being a Huntress in our heads. But, at the end of the day...it's a job to protect the people. And whatever we want will have to come second."

"That is the role of a protector," Aaron agreed. He glanced over at Ruby, and caught her eyes for a few seconds before she looked back outside. She must have been paying attention to at least that last part. Aaron sighed and lay back on his pillow. _Maybe now I can get some sleep._

* * *

 **The mission is underway, and there isn't a whole lot going right for Ruby right now. I know, I'm a terrible human being.**


	27. Into the Dark

**As promised, here's my thanks for getting this story over 200 favorites. To a few reviewers, thank you for your kind words. I hope I don't destroy that trust in the next few chapters.**

 **Okay, let's get to this.**

* * *

A slight movement by Ruby's side woke her up. She groggily opened her eyes to see Zwei standing up, fully awake. "Zwei, it's late," she moaned. "Go back to bed." She yawned and was about to put her head back down on her pillow when the dog ran off. "Zwei? Zwei!" Ruby called, trying not to wake up the rest of her team.

Still half asleep, Ruby rose to her feet, but still kept low to the ground. She looked around the room. Aaron, Weiss, and Blake slept soundly on their respective bedrolls, and Yang had her gaze outside. Ruby groaned again and grabbed Crescent Rose. Now was not the time or place for Zwei to run off. Even though she had a small meltdown over her dog's ears, he was still the same Zwei from before. Ruby couldn't let anything happen to him.

She quietly ran down the stairs of the building, Crescent Rose strapped to her back. Ruby peaked out the front door and visually searched for her dog. "Zwei? Zwei, where are you? Zwei!" Some movement at the base of the destroyed building across the road caught her eye. "Huh?" For whatever reason, Zwei had chosen that spot to use the bathroom. Belatedly, Ruby realized she could have easily found Zwei with her mind. Old habits die hard.

"Zwei, this is a wasteland." Ruby walked over to Zwei, and he closed the distance. "You could have literally done that-"

 _Ruby, what happened to you?_ Yang suddenly called.

The team leader blinked then slightly turned her head to where her sister was. _Zwei had to use the bathroom. What's going on?_

 _There are White Fang in the area, I'm getting everyone else up._

 _What?_ Ruby looked down at Zwei who barked. She leaned down and picked up the dog. "Shhh!"

"What was that?" an unknown voice said. Ruby's eyes grew wide, and she sneaked over to some debris to use as cover. She looked around it and saw two White Fang soldiers standing out in the open.

"What was what?" the other guy asked, somewhat annoyed.

"I thought I heard a Beowolf or, something."

One of the soldiers growled. "Let's just finish our patrol and get back to base. This place gives me the creeps." Both soldiers walked away down the street. Ruby released the breath she didn't know she was holding and looked up at where Yang was keeping watch.

 _They were close, Yang,_ Ruby thought. _I'm going to follow them._

Yang hesitated on the other end. _Be careful down there. I don't want to have to look for you again._ Ruby set Zwei on the ground and grabbed Crescent Rose from her back. She stealthily followed the two soldiers on her own, taking extreme care to not make sound or be seen. There were only two of them. They shouldn't be a problem if it came to a fight.

As Ruby walked around another corner, she stumbled and almost fell to the ground. The soldiers were entering a building, and she could have sworn she saw more inside. She quickly ducked back around the corner and crouched down. Zwei stood by Ruby's side and cocked his head. Getting an idea, she grabbed Zwei and stuck his head around the corner. "Did they go in yet?" Ruby asked. "One bark means yes." After a few seconds, Zwei barked.

Ruby smiled and set Zwei down. "Oh, this is it! This is it!" She turned back toward her team's camp. _Yang, I found something out here._

 _Good, everyone's ready up here. Where are you?_

 _I'm just a few streets over. I think I found the entrance to the White Fang hideout. I'm on my way back._ Ruby stood up and quickly walked to the camp. She stretched her mind out further to contact her dragon. _Cerise, wake up. We found what we were looking for._

Cerise didn't answer right away. _You better be right about this, or else I'm waking you up in the middle of a pleasant dream sometime._ There was a growl to her mental voice. Ruby couldn't help but smile. Things were just going right over the past week.

She was brought out of her thoughts though when the road underneath her cracked. It caved in roughly a foot beneath her weight and spider web cracked around her. Though it temporarily stopped moving, the cracking noise didn't stop.

Suddenly, the asphalt gave way and revealed a large tunnel directly beneath it. Ruby reflexively tossed Crescent Rose onto a solid section of road. She grabbed onto a dangling piece or road with one hand and Zwei with the other. _Help!_ Ruby called out. She heaved and tossed the dog onto solid ground. Ruby got her head above ground level just in time to see Yang sprint out of the building they were camped in over a thousand feet down the road. Suddenly, the piece of road she was dangling off of broke off.

 _RUBY!_ Cerise and Yang yelled at the same time. Ruby barely heard them as she entered free fall. This was completely different from any other time she reached that speed. In her initiation, she had Crescent Rose to slow her down, but the weapon was up on the road. When skydiving, Cerise was there to catch Ruby, but now her dragon was nowhere close. The walls of the tunnel were just too far away to stick her bionic limbs into. There was no stopping until she hit the ground. Her Aura and wards could take a lot of punishment, but she didn't know if she could survive hitting ground at near terminal velocity.

She hit the ground flat on her back. The impact knocked the wind out of her. Most of her Aura was gone as well. Ruby slowly sat up, closed her eyes, and rubbed the back of her head where it hit the ground. She opened her eyes and looked around the area. It didn't take her long to realize she wasn't just in another cave. She was on top of a _building_ in an _underground city_. It looked to be in a similar condition to the city above. The debris looked to be the same age as well. There weren't any obvious signs of habitation. If Ruby knew where the heck she was, it would have been a cool sight.

 _Yang, Cerise, I'm all right,_ Ruby called, but she couldn't feel their minds. _Guys?_ Again, no response.

A door opened up behind her, and light spilled onto the roof. Ruby stood up and faced the door. Two White Fang soldiers ran out with their guns raised. "Freeze!" one of them shouted. Ruby covered her eyes to shield them from the sudden light.

"Where did she come from?" The other soldier asked. Ruby backed up, and almost stepped over the edge. She temporarily lost her balance and flailed her arms to regain it. As she looked back at the soldiers, dread started to take over. They weren't shooting, and they weren't moving quickly.

"You're a long way from home, little girl," the first soldier said. Ruby's eyes widened in realization. She knew that tone from the Nevermores. Her entire body started to shake. The red heart rate monitor appeared in the top right corner of her vision.

They weren't there to kill her, they were there to _take_ her.

 _Not again! Not again! Not again!_ Ruby's mind was going back to the Nevermore base. Her breathing quickly gained speed but lost strength. She rapidly looked between the two soldiers, not wanting them to get any closer. There was no way she could take them both. She looked over the edge of the building again. It had to be over a hundred feet to the bottom. Normally, her Aura would absorb a fall of that height without a problem, and she would be able to get back up and fight without being injured. Now though, her Aura may not be enough. Still, the fall would ensure she would never be abused like that again.

It felt like a good trade off.

Suddenly, another mind forced itself into the Rider's. _RUBY!_ Cerise yelled with more panic than ever before. A roar quietly filtered its way down the tunnel. One of the soldiers gradually looked up while the other grabbed Ruby's left arm. The panicked girl tore that arm out of her assailant's grasp and threw a punch at him with her right.

Instead of just bouncing of the armor like expected, the soldier flew back into the wall of the cave. Ruby blinked in surprise, and the second soldier looked at his comrade slump against the wall. Not waiting for him to recover, Ruby threw her right leg at the second soldier. It connected with his chest and he slid to the other side of the roof.

Ruby stood still for a moment, then looked at her right hand. Somewhere in the panic, she forgot she had bionic limbs. She didn't know how or why, it just happened. Breaking out of her trance, Ruby walked over to the nearest downed soldier and reached for his gun. The soldier wasn't out cold, however. He grabbed onto Ruby's right leg and tried to pull it out from underneath her. Ruby yelped and pulled that leg back, and kicked the downed soldier in the face with her left. This time, the man didn't move.

 _Ruby!_ Yang called as soon as she reentered Ruby's mind. _Are you alright?_

 _Get down here quick!_ Ruby looked back up at the hole. _The White Fang is here! I need backup!_

… _Alright, just don't get killed, okay?_ Yang joked, most likely trying to lighten the mood.

It had the opposite effect on Ruby. _They don't want me dead._ She heard some noise coming from the door the soldiers came out of. The girl grabbed the gun off the unconscious soldier and several spare magazines. She ran away from the door and jumped from roof to roof, trying to put as much distance between her and that door as possible. As she ran, Yang and Cerise once again faded from her mind.

* * *

Yang could only stare down the hole as her little sister's mind faded into nothingness. That happened when Ruby fell down the hole too, so it probably had something to do with the rock.

That wasn't what had Yang close to panicking. _'They don't want me dead…'_ Those words rang in her head for a while. _Not again, not again…_ She looked up to see Cerise flying erratically in the air above the hole in the ground. That was the first time Yang saw fear in a dragon's eyes. She didn't like it one bit.

"This isn't good…" Weiss said while looking down into the hole.

"I don't know what happened, but the White Fang is down there, and she's scared out of her mind." Yang said as calmly as she could, but unable to keep her voice completely steady.

Dr. Oobleck sped over to the hole and looked down. "Oh my..." he said, then turned around. "Of course...Of course, of course, of course!"

"What is it?" Blake asked, concerned.

"How could I be so stupid?!" Dr. Oobleck started pacing.

Yang clenched her fists. "We don't have time for this! What's wrong?"

Dr. Oobleck placed his face inches away from Yang's. "Mountain Glenn! Yes! An expansion of Vale that was inevitably destroyed by creatures of Grimm! Previously home to thousands of people! Working people, commuting to the city, the main city. Developed a subway system to the inner city. Grimm attacks increase! Population in danger, now desperately searching for shelter! City evacuates into metro tunnels and what do they find?! The South-East quadrant of Vale is known for wild forests and deep caves!"

"Doc, what are you saying?" Yang's frustration was rising. Now was not the time for a history lesson while her little sister was panicking.

Oobleck grabbed Yang's shoulders. "My dear, we're not just looking for an underground crime network! We're looking for an _underground_ crime network!" Yang shrugged the doctor off. She had already gotten that much from Ruby.

"They've been working in caves?" Blake asked unbelieving.

"No, no. Mountain Glenn was Vale's first serious attempt at expansion." Dr. Oobleck went on to explain a brief history of Mountain Glen, and the city beneath it. Yang almost had to physically stop herself from yelling at the mission leader. They obviously found the White Fang, they should be doing something about it. "If Ruby is down there..." Oobleck grabbed his thermos and it extended into a kanabo, "we must find her."

Yang looked back down the tunnel. "Bout time..." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Aaron kneeling by the hole. He dropped a rock in then closed his eyes. He extended a finger every second.

After eight, he grimaced and opened his eyes. "Eight seconds. That's a hard fall. Also enough rock in between us to make mental communication impossible."

"Fastest route is a straight line." Yang looked over at Aaron. "I've had worse falls, but I don't think everyone else can take it."

Aaron shook his head. "I know what you're thinking. I can catch myself like that, maybe one other person. Four more is too many."

"Straight down with no light," Blake started, "not exactly ideal for any of our landing strategies." She grabbed Crescent Rose up off the ground.

"There has to be some other way down," Weiss said, then looked to Dr. Oobleck. "You have any ideas?"

"There were several elevators connecting the surface to the tunnels," Oobleck stated. "Unfortunately, they were sealed off when the surface was abandoned. However, the caves still needed ventilation to the surface to bring in clean air. These vents were cleverly disguised and had advanced laser defenses at regular intervals to kill any Grimm that managed to find their way in. Finding one of these will prove to be a challenge. Their defenses though should be offline."

Aaron stood up by the hole and straightened his jacket. "I can take care of that. People I know came up with some ways to find open cavities beneath cave-ins and get people out. The same principle should apply." At that moment Zwei barked twice and started running toward another building. "Or we could just follow Zwei."

Everyone ran after the dog while Cerise landed by the hole in the ground. Yang looked back and saw the dragon shaking and sticking her neck down the hole. Nalia and Halcyon flew in circles just above the ruined buildings. Cerise took her head out of the hole and looked at Yang with pleading eyes. "I'll bring her back in one piece this time," the Rider said, then looked up to her dragon. _Watch after your sister._

Halcyon nodded. _I won't let her leave my sight._ Yang turned around and ran to catch up with the rest of her team.

Zwei stood by a massive hole in in a wall, with a large fan sitting in pieces elsewhere in the ruined building. Aaron stuck his head inside and looked down. "This is the place," he announced. "These stairs definitely weren't here initially."

Everyone else looked inside and saw a long winding staircase down the shaft. Yang didn't like how haphazardly the pieces of steel were bolted into the rock walls. "Watch your step." She took the lead down the stairs, moving at a safe yet brisk pace. Every few steps, one would creak loudly, bringing the whole procession to a stop, but none gave way. Still, Yang breathed a sigh of relief when they reached the bottom.

Yang continued leading the way out of the vent and into a large room. Two White Fang soldiers stood in the room. Unfortunately for them, they were facing the other way. Yang crept up behind them, intending to smack their heads together. Before that could happen though, Aaron said, "Slytha." The two soldiers fell to the ground, one of them started snoring. Yang turned around and glared at her teammate. "Don't worry, I have a feeling you'll get the chance to smack some heads together at some point. Find Ruby."

The blonde nodded, then looked out toward the underground city. She stretched out her mind to find her sister. While she was searching, Yang touched the minds of at least a hundred White Fang. They were up to something, but Yang didn't pay any attention to them. She was too focused on finding her sister.

When Yang finally found Ruby's mind, she latched on as quickly as she could. _Ruby! Where are you?_

Surprise mingled with Ruby's panic. _Yang?...I'm at the top of a building. I can't go down, the White Fang is everywhere down there…They're looking for me._

Yang couldn't ignore the fear in those last words. _Stay there, we're coming._ She growled the started moving toward the door. "We need to move fast."

"What's Ruby's condition?" Oobleck asked. Yang explained as quickly as she could. The mission leader scowled. "She may not be in immediate danger, but that could change in any moment."

"No time to lose," Aaron said as he grabbed some gun magazines off the sleeping Faunus. He slammed one of them into his V4 and ticked off the safety. "Let's go get our leader back."

Yang nodded, then looked at her other two teammates. Weiss and Blake stared back with hard eyes. The blonde Huntress turned to the door in front of her and closed her eyes. When she opened them, red haze tugged at the edge of her vision. She kicked down the door and got to work.

Two White Fang soldiers turned to face Yang and quickly had shotgun shells shot at them. They fell to the ground and didn't get back up. More Faunus looked at the intruders and raised their weapons. Many of them didn't get the chance to fire a shot as Dust rounds flew out from behind Yang. She charged at a large group, dodging bullets as she ran.

Once she got to the cluster of Faunus, Yang was a blur. None of them could hope to beat a Huntress who excelled at close-quarter-combat. Some flew out of the group thanks to powerful punches, others were brought low by less powerful kicks. Yang's aura took a few bullets, but that only made her stronger. She threw one more punch at a soldier's face, and the group was dismantled.

Yang looked over to the rest of her team and saw them a little farther down the road, many more White Fang lying unconscious on the ground. She ran to catch up with them. Gunfire came from one of the buildings on the street. Yang quickly cast her mind toward it, and felt Ruby just inside. She was about to run in when her little sister ran out the front door.

Ruby locked eyes with Yang, and the red haze faded from the latter's vision. The only other time she saw that kind of fear in her little sister's eyes was when she woke up from the nightmare the night after she was rescued. Ruby ran toward her older sister, dropping a stolen assault rifle along the way. She jumped and hugged Yang with both her arms and legs. "Thank you," she whispered.

Yang returned the hug, then peeled her little sister off. "I hate to do this to you right now, but we need to know what's going on here."

Ruby hesitantly nodded, and grabbed her scythe back from Blake. "Torchwick's got all sorts of weapons and robots down there. Androids, mechs - they're all loaded up on the train cars." Her whole body shook as she spoke, but she managed to get her weapon loaded.

"Ah, that's ridiculous!" Oobleck said. "These tunnels are sealed, the tracks lead to a dead end."

A PA system in the area screeched to life. "Get to your places, we are leaving now!" Roman Torchwick said. Down the tracks team RWBY found themselves standing on, a train steamed to life. Ever so slowly, the train moved forward, gaining speed.

"Well it sounds like they're going somewhere," Yang said.

"We need backup." Ruby's voice quaked a little. She looked at Yang and Aaron. "Can either of you contact your dragons?"

Yang immediately shook her head, while Aaron raised his head and squinted. "Too much rock."

"So what do we do?" Weiss asked.

"I believe we only have one option." Oobleck stared after the fleeing train.

Ruby finally stopped shaking and stood up and readied Crescent Rose. "We're stopping that train."

Weiss raised Myrtenaster and several glyphs appeared on the ground. Yang didn't need to be told to move. She stepped on the first and started running. The speed glyphs allowed her to catch up with the train before it left the city. She jumped onto the back of the last car and pried the door open. The rest of her expanded team jumped in shortly after. Dr. Oobleck quickly knocked out the only White Fang soldier in the car.

Yang took the free seconds to reload Ember Celica. "Let's do this."

* * *

Aaron climbed up to the top of the train car through a hatch on the roof. He raised his V4 turned his hat backwards so it wouldn't fly off in the wind. The rest of the team quickly reached the roof and looked 'upwind.'

"Hurry, children!" Oobleck urged. "We must get to the front and stop this train!"

"Uh...professor?" Weiss called.

"Doctor…"

"What's that?" Weiss pointed at something in the train car they just left. Aaron looked inside and saw a grey machine with wires and blue and red Dust stuck to the sides.

Oobleck knelt by the hatch. "That my dear…appears to be a bomb." All the girls recoiled from the hatch, while Aaron kept his eyes forward.

Far down the train, Aaron saw White Fang soldiers climbing onto the roofs of cars through top hatches and up the sides. "They know we're here." He thought about firing on them from range, but at this speed and the roughness of the tracks, it wasn't likely that he'd hit anything.

"Well I didn't expect them to go-" Oobleck started, then the bomb started beeping, "easy on us." He stood up from the hatch. "Time to go!" Aaron didn't need to be told twice. He sprinted straight to the next car, then took aim down the train once more.

"It decoupled itself!" Blake called from behind Aaron. He looked back to see the caboose fall behind the rest of the train.

"What?" Oobleck called down to Blake.

"I guess he really doesn't want us on this train," Yang said. Blake jumped back up onto the top of the train. Quite a ways back down the tunnel, the caboose exploded.

"That's not good." Oobleck shook his head.

Ruby opened the top hatch of the car everyone was currently on, and jumped back a foot. "Neither is this."

Aaron looked inside and saw another bomb on the floor. "Of all the things to go wrong…"

Oobleck ran past Aaron. "No, no, no…" He jumped onto the next car and opened its hatch. "They all have bombs!" The one in the car team RWBY stood on started beeping and the car decoupled. They all sprinted to the next car, and barely made it.

"This doesn't make sense!" Yang stated.

"Finally, something in this world that no one understands," Aaron said as he looked at the oncoming White Fang mob. He dropped to a knee and took aim. The rest of his team stood equally far forward. Yang was the first to engage, sending one White Fang soldier through the roof hatch of the car they stood on. Aaron fired his V4 into the crowd soon after, sticking to attacking those on the sides. Weiss, Blake, and Ruby all carved a hole through the middle of the pack.

One thing didn't sit right with Aaron. _Why are most of these people unarmed?_ He couldn't dwell on it. The car he just left exploded far behind him. He looked back to see a large hole in the tunnel and morning sunlight pouring in. Unfortunately, Grimm also took advantage of the opening. If there was a bright side, he could finally feel his dragon's mind. _Nalia!_ he called. _We're going to need backup!_

 _We're following you now,_ came the dragon's response. _What do you need?_

 _For now, I need a lot of fire at the hole into this tunnel._ Aaron looked back forward and saw Ruby with a hand to the side of her head and her eyes closed. She was mouthing something that looked like 'I'm fine' over and over. A single tear ran down from her natural eye.

"He's leading Grimm to the city!" Oobleck shouted.

"What?" Weiss asked after she knocked out another Faunus.

"It's the cars! They detach and explode, creating openings for the Grimm!"

"That's insane!" Blake spun around and shot another White Fang soldier that was getting a little too close.

Another car detached. "We have to hurry!" Oobleck yelled. He looked at Weiss, Blake, and Yang. "You three! Go below and try and stop those bombs!"

"What about us?" Ruby finally wiped the tear of her face.

Oobleck stood in a dramatic pose. "We're going to stop this train."

Aaron took his eyes off the oncoming horde for a second. "Ruby said that not even five minutes ago." Everyone ran forward several cars, knocking even more White Fang out. Aaron once again took a knee and provided cover fire for his teammates as they entered the train.

"Can you derail this thing, or stop it some other way?" Ruby asked Aaron as he caught back up.

The Rider quickly shook his head. "This thing's moving too fast and it's too heavy. It would take more than everything Nalia and I have to stop this thing." Just then, a few large machines jumped onto the top of the train. Aaron checked his belt to see if he had any grenades left, and saw only one. He grabbed it and loaded it into his launcher.

"We've got a problem!" Oobleck said as the Paladin jumped through a catwalk above the train. He took a sip from his thermos that somehow still had something in it, then smiled. A small flame extended from it. Zwei barked and stared down the Paladin. He jumped and Oobleck smacked the dog with his kanabo.

Aaron's shoulders slumped at what he saw. Zwei was surrounded with fire and flying at the Paladin and an extremely fast speed. When hit the mech, he essentially exploded, sending the Paladin off the side of the train. Zwei stood on top of the car like nothing was wrong. Aaron sighed and shook his head. "Back to things not making sense."

Another Paladin took the first's place and aimed its weapons at Zwei. Before Aaron could aim his grenade launcher at the mech, Oobleck launched a large fireball at it. Then the mission leader ran and took a swing at the thing close up. The Paladin flew off the train and hit a wall. "Leave some for the rest of us," Ruby joked half-heartedly.

"Careful what you wish for," Aaron yelled. Three more Paladins ran up to meet them. Aaron finally fired several bursts at the one in the lead, but the Dust rounds just bounced right off. He 'quickly' strapped his V4 to his back and drew Redemption and his shield. By the time he was rearmed though, the mech was on top of him.

Aaron backflipped to get out of the way of a punch, then swung Redemption at the arm stuck in the roof of the train car. Surprisingly, the sword cut into the armored arm, but not all the way through. The Paladin removed its arm from the car's roof, taking Aaron and Redemption with it. Using the new angle to his advantage, Aaron yanked Redemption out and drove it with all his strength at the point where arm met body. Again, Rhunön's handiwork proved its worth by cutting into the joint. Aaron pulled his sword toward himself, cutting the arm clean off.

Not waiting for the Paladin's operator to recover, Aaron jumped over to the other side and repeated the process. Now armless, the Paladin tried to shake Aaron off its back, but was unsuccessful. The Rider sheathed his sword and drew his V4. He hung off the side of the Paladin and aimed the grenade launcher inside the new gap in armor. The grenade fired and Aaron jumped off the machine. A few seconds later, the entire right side of the Paladin exploded, and the rest fell off the side.

Further up the train, Aaron saw Ruby and Oobleck fighting their own Paladins. Ruby quickly finished hers off by cutting the legs out from under it. She fired one explosive Dust round at it and it flew off the side of the train. Oobleck finished his similarly to the first one, in a ball of fire and slamming it into a wall.

One more Paladin joined the fray and was double teamed by Ruby and Oobleck. The mission leader jumped into its 'head' and fired down on top of it. The mech wobbled, its operator most likely dazed. Ruby placed the tip of Crescent Rose into the top of the car. Oobleck aimed his kanabo at the legs of the mech. Both fired, and their projectiles collided and exploded. The Paladin flew up in the air and then off the train.

Aaron heard loud footsteps behind him and saw two Paladins running across train cars. He growled and aimed his V4 at them. "These things won't stay down."

"Aaron! Ruby! You two go on ahead!" Oobleck ordered.

"But…" Ruby started to protest.

"Don't worry, Ruby. It's time I teach them a lesson." Oobleck turned around and ran at the oncoming mechs.

Zwei whimpered and looked up at Ruby with pleading eyes. Aaron saw a flash of fear in Ruby's for a split second. "Go," she said with a slight quiver. Zwei barked then ran after Oobleck.

Ruby stood frozen to the spot for a second. Aaron snapped her out of it by yelling, "Come on! We're almost there!" She hesitantly nodded, then turned back toward the front of the train,

The two ran a little way before stopping again. A large steel door blocked the tracks ahead. The rest of team RWBY joined Ruby and Aaron on top of the train. Aaron looked over at Yang and saw some blood in her hair and a large tear on one of her short sleeves. "What happened?" Aaron asked.

Yang shrugged him off. "Later, what do we do about that door we're about to hit?" Ruby and Weiss exchanged a glance and both nodded. Weiss raised Myrtenaster and plunged it into the top of the train. Ice surrounded the team and Ruby knelt down with her bionic arm and leg pressed together in front of her.

"Get behind me," she ordered. Aaron instead placed his shield in front of him right next to Ruby, increasing the protective area. The rest of the team crouched behind them and braced for impact.

The crash wasn't long in coming. All of team RWBY flew into the ice barricade. It held for less than a second, then they were thrown out and forward off the train. Aaron's breath was taken away from the impact. He stared up into the morning sky as he tried to refill his lungs.

Eventually he was able to sit up and look around. The rest of his team was also stirring. Aaron looked around and saw they were in the heart of Vale. Some sort of siren was blaring. People stood around the plaza staring at the wreckage.

Suddenly, the rubble beneath Aaron started to shake. Soon after, the black head of a King Tajitu forced its way out of the rubble. People in the plaza ran around screaming. More Grimm poured into the square from other streets, suggesting more areas where the train breached the city.

Aaron stood up and once again drew Redemption. _Nalia, get here as soon as you can,_ Aaron called. _The city's been breached!_

* * *

 **To those of you who might be thinking it at this point, no, I don't hate Ruby. Some people thought she didn't have any character development during the first two volumes, so here you go. HAPPY NOW? Like I said before, it hurts doing this to her. I essentially gave my waifu PTSD…wait what? Forget I wrote that… Anyway, that's also why she didn't think she could take those two White Fang.**


	28. Battles

**Several people have asked who exactly 'Kevin' is, and I did a really bad job at explaining that. For those who don't know, Kevin is the community given name for the Grimm dragon at the end of Volume 3.**

 **Also, people have said that Ruby needs to turn back into a badass soon. I completely agree, but I have some loose ends to tie up in this chapter first. This chapter will have the last truly mopey Ruby session for a while.**

 **Now, Vale's burning, time to do something about it.**

* * *

Team RWBY backed up to a stage in the center of the park. It was the only raised ground inside the bowl shaped plaza. Aaron stared at the horde of Grimm that surrounded him and his team. He had Redemption and his shield raised, waiting for the creatures to make the first move. For the time being though, both sides were content to stare at each other.

Ruby stood just to the right of Aaron, and she was struggling to get back in a fighting mindset after what happened in the underground city. "Grimm. Grimm. I can handle Grimm. I can handle Grimm," she repeated over and over. Still, she kept her finger on her weapon's trigger.

The King Taijitu that first burst from the rubble roared, and all the Grimm in the courtyard charged. Aaron lowered his stance and prepared for the oncoming storm. Ruby jumped into the crowd and parted the sea of Grimm. Many of those that made it through moved straight at Aaron. There were a lot of them, but they were still outmatched.

As the first Beowolf entered Aaron's engagement range, it lost its head. After that, Aaron was a blur. Limbs flew and heads rolled. The few times a Grimm managed to land a hit, it immediately lost its offending limb. Aaron didn't even pause when an Ursa joined the fray. He jumped on the creature's back and drove Redemption into the base of its skull. The beast fell on top of a small Beowolf that was stupid enough to try and attack the Rider on the Ursa's back.

Across the plaza, Aaron saw Yang fly back, propelled by shotgun blasts from Ember Celica. Unfortunately her flight path took her right into a group of Nevermores. She was knocked out of the sky and tumbled uncontrollably toward the ground.

Before she could hit, Halcyon came out of nowhere and caught his Rider. He quickly turned around and attacked the group of small Nevermores. Three bird-shaped corpses fell out of the sky a few seconds later.

Soon after, Nalia and Cerise flew over the plaza, the green snarling and the red searching the ground frantically. Cerise dove onto the head of the King Taijitu that was threatening Ruby. The dragon ripped the creature's black head off, then jumped over her Rider and into a pack of Beowolves.

Aaron returned his attention to the Grimm in front of him. Even more Beowolves gathered around him. Mixed in were a few of the much shorter Creeps and Boarbatusks. The Rider just smirked and turned to face a much smaller group nearby. Behind him, Nalia landed on top of the large pack and began tearing them apart. Meanwhile, Aaron jumped at the group in front of him and swiftly removed the heads of three creeps with one swing.

The next time Aaron turned around, he saw Nalia trying to peel a Creep off one of her claws. He looked up and saw several large Nevermores in the sky. "Nalia!" The green dragon looked at her Rider. "Clear the skies." Nalia nodded and tore the Creep on her claw in half. She took to the sky and roared at the flying Grimm.

Out of the corner of his eye, Aaron saw a Beowolf lunge at him. He simply moved Redemption into the creature's path and held it still. The Beowolf's head split in half then fell to the ground. As Aaron turned around, he saw a large Deathstalker running at him. He dropped into a defensive position and focused on the large stinger. A familiar scream begged for his attention though.

Aaron looked up and saw Yang diving down right at the giant scorpion. She delivered a powerful punch straight to the creatures head, and traveled right on through. The massive stinger fell backward into a building, and Yang stood up from the wreckage with a smirk on her face. "Nice entrance," Aaron commented.

Yang shrugged. "Shotguns aren't the best form the air, otherwise I'd still be up there with Halcyon." Her head snapped to the side and fired a blast right over Aaron's shoulder. He calmly turned his head to see a Creep with a hole in its chest laying on the ground.

Team JNPR had joined in the battle by that point, as had the Vale police. The extra help was appreciated, but for every Grimm that fell, three more rose to take their place. The police were trying their hardest, but they were getting overwhelmed. A Deathstalker charged a line of police cruisers and burst right through. Several smaller Grimm charged through the gap.

Aaron charged for the area. He screamed to get the creatures' attention. A few looked over and braced for the charge. It didn't do them any good. Redemption cut through Grimm after Grimm until Aaron reached the Deathstalker. It swung it's stinger at the Rider, who stepped to the side. The golden point impaled itself in the ground, and got stuck. Aaron took advantage of this by charging forward some more and stabbed the scorpion right through the eye. The creature screamed and Aaron twisted his sword. The Grimm shook, then its legs gave way.

A terrified scream caught Aaron's attention. He tracked it to a building nearby. He ran in the destroyed entryway and saw an Ursa cornering a very familiar one-eared Faunus. "Hey you!" Aaron yelled. The Ursa turned around and roared. That turned out to be a mistake. Redemption was soon shoved down the open maw. The Grimm fell to the ground, never to rise again. Aaron looked up. "You okay, Claret?"

"I-I'm fine," Claret stuttered. "This is just…what's going on?"

"You might want to get upstairs. That's apparently a foreign concept to most of them." Claret nodded then ran to the back of the shop where the stairs most likely were.

Aaron turned around and ran back outside. He looked up to the sky and his jaw dropped. The Atlas Navy had arrived and had many fighters and transports in the sky over the city. Nalia flew near the rear of the swarm, most likely catching her breath. Several transports dropped the mechanical soldiers Atlas was so proud of. Hopefully they'd be able to help resecure the city.

The Rider returned his attention to the ground and saw the second head of the King Taijitu from before slither its way toward Jaune and Blake. Both had their swords drawn and pointed at the giant snake. The blonde of the two looked terrified. Aaron ran toward them and extended a hand. "Letta." The giant snake stopped in its tracks. Jaune and Blake exchanged a glance, then ran forward. Both of them swung their swords just behind the Taijitu's head and severed it from the rest of the body.

Aaron dropped to a knee to catch his breath. In hindsight, that wasn't the best idea. He heard a Beowolf running on his right. Aaron turned to face the charging Grimm, but Pyrrha jumped in from the side and stabbed the Grimm through the chest. She removed her spear from the dead Beowolf then offered a hand to Aaron. "A battlefield is not the best place to rest, you know."

The Rider took the offered hand. "I'll keep that in mind." Aaron looked up and saw Halcyon escorting a Bullhead into the plaza. He peeled off as the transport settled over the center and charged some more Nevermores in another part of the city. Team CFVY and Professor Port jumped out of the Bullhead and engaged the Grimm.

Aaron focused on Velvet when he wasn't fighting Grimm of his own. He had yet to see the newest Rider fight. Velvet initially attacked a few Beowolves using her legs to fight. It kind of made sense, she was a rabbit Faunus after all. After that though, she hung back and stayed between Yatsuhashi and Fox. There was a time where she ran over to Coco's side and reached for her box, but her team leader waved her off.

An Ursa Major took Aaron's eyes off the battle in the center of the plaza. The Rider blocked a strike with his shield, then slashed at one of the Grimm's arm. Instead of cutting through like normal though, the strike glanced off the bear's armor. Thrown off by the ineffective strike, the Ursa was able to actually hit Aaron. He flew into the side of a building and slumped to the ground.

Just as the Ursa was about to strike, it was hit in the side by a massive ball of fire. Aaron looked in the direction the fire came from and saw Doctor Oobleck and Professor Port standing on a pile of rubble. Aaron shook himself off and charged back into the battle.

During the charge, he ended up fighting alongside Ruby once again. Both Riders were sweating up a storm and killing Grimm left and right. Grimm fell in equal numbers to sword and scythe. With the two teammates essentially fighting back to back, neither of them were touched.

Aaron struck down one last Creep and looked around the plaza. The only Grimm in sight were decaying. He looked over at where the train crashed through to the city and saw the massive debris field cleared and the hole filled. The skies were filled with Atlas transports and one of their massive flying ships. _Nalia,_ the Rider called out, _do you see any more?_

 _Only a few stragglers,_ Nalia responded, exhaustion creeping into her voice. _Atlas and the police will have them taken care of by the time you can get far. We've won._

Aaron breathed a sigh of relief and leaned on his sword. "That was something."

"I'm exhausted, energized, tired, and wide awake at the same time," Ruby panted. "How does that work?"

"I think that's what happens after a battle." Aaron stood up and sheathed his sword and strapped his shield to his back.

The rest of the team slowly made their way over. "Well, that was interesting," Weiss said.

"At least it's over," Blake agreed.

Ruby looked up at her sister. "What happened to you on the train?"

Yang growled. "Little Miss Umbrella was back. She got in that hit before she ran away."

"She got through your Aura?" Blake asked.

"Don't know how, but yeah. I'm going to have to get her back for messing up my hair though." Yang grabbed some of her hair and brought it out in front of her. Aaron didn't need to be inside her head to know she was hiding something. Yang wouldn't allow someone to run if they messed up her hair.

"Did I see you flying on Halcyon for a bit?" Ruby changed the subject.

Yang smiled and released her hair. "You sure did, and it was awesome." Her smile turned into a grimace. "Until his scales started cutting my legs."

Aaron grimaced. He didn't even need to look down to know the kind of damage that occurred. "You should probably take care of that sooner rather than later."

"You fought the whole battle like that?" Weiss asked in disbelief.

Yang took a seat on a ledge and put a hand right by one of the cuts. "There wasn't time to heal. I couldn't stop fighting." The looked at her right leg. "Waíse heill." The cuts slowly healed, but the blood stayed put. Yang repeated the process for her other leg. "This'll take a while to wash off…"

Aaron heard a light roar overhead. He looked up to see Nalia and Halcyon coming in for a landing. As the green dragon circled, Aaron saw a small holes in Nalia's wings, and a few more on her side. The dragon landed hard, and her Rider rushed over. "What happened?" Aaron asked as he set to work on mending Nalia's wings.

 _I believe they call it 'friendly fire,'_ Nalia stated, not even sounding like she was in pain. _The pilot was aiming at a Nevermore and missed with a few shots. It didn't hinder me too much though. Still, I don't like how easily those dust rounds cut through my scales._

The Rider quickly healed all the holes in his dragon's wings and side. "Well, he hit nothing important. Good fighting." Aaron patted Nalia's shoulder and she hummed in response. Right beside Nalia, Halcyon stood looking over every inch of his Rider. Yang eventually pushed his head to the side.

Across the square, Claret hesitantly walked out of the shop she was hiding in. Apparently Velvet saw her friend as well. "Claret?" she yelled, the she ran over to her friend. Aaron couldn't hear what exactly the two Faunus were talking about, but Claret did give a few motions to Velvet's right hand. Velvet then made a gesture toward Nalia and Claret's jaw hit the ground.

"So she got tied up in something else," Ruby said sadly.

"She got cornered by and Ursa in that shop," Aaron stated, walking to his team leader's side.

Ruby sighed, then her head snapped to the side. "Now?" she yelled, and took a few steps toward the edge of the plaza. "They're doing this _now?"_ Ruby was now the central focus of the plaza.

"What's going on?" Weiss asked.

Ruby growled. "Cerise said the Nevermores were using this to kidnap more Faunus!" Nalia and Halcyon growled, and all the Huntsmen and Huntresses around gripped their weapons. Claret blanched and gripped onto Velvet's arm. Yang and Aaron locked eyes. Both of them were thinking the same thing; they could be there for Ruby. "She managed to drive them off though. As far as she knows, all kids are going back home today."

A strong wind entered the courtyard. Aaron looked up and saw an Atlas transport coming in for a landing on the central stage. At the same time, a squad of Atlas androids, along with Emerald and Mercury, escorted a man in a white suit out of a building near where the massive hole in the ground used to be. Aaron guessed the man was Roman Torchwick.

The three full Beacon teams met up near the transport and dragons. Soon after, Sun, Neptune, Port, Oobleck, and surprisingly Goodwitch entered the circle. Aaron didn't see the last professor enter. No one really said anything. Everyone just stood in the circle, some were scowling, others trying to catch their breath after the fight.

A gentle breeze blew through the courtyard and Nalia tensed up. _No…_ She took a step forward and intently sniffed the air. Aaron turned to look at his dragon, trying to figure out what was going on. Her eyes grew wide, then her pupils shrank to slits. She got low to the ground and growled right at those on the stage by the transport.

"Nalia, what's-" Aaron started to say before Nalia took off in a hurry. Halcyon also growled, then took off after Nalia. _What's wrong?_

 _Emerald!_ Nalia mentally yelled. Aaron winced at the force. The other members of team RWBY did as well. _She stole Vert's egg._

Aaron turned to the green haired girl as she escorted Torchwick onto the Atlas transport. The Rider scowled as did the other Riders on team RWBY. _Let me guess,_ Yang said, joining in on the mental conversation, _we can't touch her._

 _Nalia wanted me to get to know how the legal system here,_ Aaron thought. _We never reported the egg missing, or a break in. Even then, our dragons would need to be 'certified' for tracking and identifying for scent evidence to be held up in court._ He scowled even more.

 _Back in Alagaësia,_ Nalia added, _we'd have the right to execute her on the spot…but this isn't Alagaësia. I doubt any of you would have done it anyway._

Aaron turned around and walked away from the Huntsmen circle. The rest of his team followed closely behind. "Why?" Ruby asked no one in particular after they were a good distance away from eavesdroppers

"What could anyone have to gain from stealing then ditching a dragon egg?" Weiss expanded.

"How'd she even know about it?" Yang shook her head.

"All good questions." Aaron sighed. "Another thing, was she working alone?" A tense silence fell over the group.

"Weiss, Blake," Ruby started, "you two can head back to Beacon whenever. I think the rest of us could still do some good here." The two nodded and slowly returned to the group they just left. Aaron looked back to the transport to see if Emerald was still around. Luckily, she was nowhere in sight.

"So what did you have in mind, sis?" Yang asked.

Ruby shrugged. "Search and rescue, first aid, finding lost kids. We do have a few advantages that other people don't."

Aaron nodded. "That is what Riders have done when a bad storm hits a city."

The three Riders started walking toward what looked like the hardest hit section of the city. They didn't get far though. Ruby suddenly stopped in her tracks. Aaron turned to her and saw she lifted her head and closed her eyes. "A-actually, could you guys give me a minute?" Ruby asked. She walked off toward another street at a brisk pace.

A calm roar filtered over the city, and Cerise came into view soon after. The red dragon angled toward her Rider, who had stopped in the center of a road. Aaron saw the dragon glide down toward the road. The problem was, she wasn't slowing down. Ruby tensed up, most likely expecting to be tackled. Aaron looked back to Cerise and looked right into her visible eye.

Aaron froze. He knew that look. Nalia forced him to see it for over a day.

Cerise landed, ran forward a few steps, and grabbed her Rider in one of her paws. She then jumped and flew away immediately afterward. Yang gasped by Aaron's side as she watched Ruby get carried away. "What's Cerise doing?" she asked Aaron. When he didn't respond, the blonde pushed the other Rider. "What's Cerise doing with my sister?"

"She needs to have a very important talk with her Rider." Aaron finally took his eyes off Cerise and looked at Yang. "Ruby's mind went to a very, very dark place when she was alone in the cave. Cerise needs to talk to her first."

Yang narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Aaron sighed. "I believe Ruby seriously considered killing herself in that cave."

Yang's entire body stiffened. "No." Yang's head eeked to either side. "No. She can't. She's my little sister. I'd know if she thought about that kind of thing.

"I don't think you would." Aaron shook his head. "Not even Nalia noticed my event until right before."

"But..." Yang's legs shook and she snapped her head to the sky. "HALCYON!" The golden dragon dove down from the sky and landed right in front of Yang.

"Wait." Aaron put a hand on Yang's shoulder.

Yang snapped her head around and grabbed Aaron's wrist. Her irises burned red and her hair ignited. She clamped down on Aaron's wrist, draining his Aura and wards. "Wait? You want me to _wait?_ You just said my baby sister wanted to end it all. How the hell is me waiting going to pull her out of that?"

 _Because Cerise knows exactly what went through Ruby's head,_ Nalia said from where she hovered above the buildings. _Ruby needs to hear what Cerise has to say, then she'll come to you._ She paused and hummed sadly. _I know from experience.  
_  
Yang glared up at Nalia, then at Aaron, then back again. She tossed Aaron's hand away and her hair extinguished itself. "Fine. But if so much as _one_ hair is out of place on her head, you're dealing with me." She pointed a finger directly in Aaron's face. Yang faced Halcyon again and climbed onto his back. Halcyon pushed off the ground and angled back toward Beacon.

Aaron watched them go and he rubbed his wrist. He couldn't help but wonder if that's how Rafye and Irolon felt back on Vroengard. He shook his head, trying to get those memories out once more. Now was _not_ the time to be thinking about the Fall.

* * *

Ruby watched as Cerise flew down to meet her. Her dragon wanted to see her right away, completely understandable after being cut off in the caves. Still, Cerise had part of her mind blocked. At the speed at which she flew in, she had to be extremely worried. Ruby tensed up and prepared for the tackle.

Cerise landed hard and ran forward a few steps. She extended a paw and _grabbed_ Ruby. The dragon then jumped back into the air. In the air, Cerise spun her Rider around in her paw. She then brought Ruby up to her chest, with the Rider facing a scaly wall.

"Cerise! What are you doing?" Ruby shouted, looking 'up' toward her dragon's head. "I can still do something down there!" Cerise didn't answer, and her mind was still partially blocked. "Talk to me! What's going on?"

Instead of answering with words, Cerise started humming. It felt weird to be pressed against a dragon's chest while she hummed. It was more than just the sound, Ruby could actually feel the vibrations. Instead of the usual hum of happiness though, Ruby picked out the intro to one of her favorite songs. Cerise removed part of the wall around her mind and let some of her emotions roll through to her Rider.

The shear amount of love that poured off her dragon overwhelmed Ruby. She couldn't help but smile and wrap her arms as far around her dragon as she could. She closed her eyes and listened to Cerise' humming. When the first lyrics came up, she couldn't help but sing along.

Ruby closed her eyes and enjoyed the flight with her bondmate. During the flight, when Cerise and she weren't exchanging lyrics anyway, Ruby thought how inadequate 'bondmate' sounded. While it was true, it didn't encompass how they felt about each other. She thought it over quickly and actually came up with something that already existed. They were _soulmates_. It was sentimental, and about as literal as she could describe it.

Cerise flew toward the ground outside the Dragonhouse. She landed on three legs and let Ruby out of her fourth. The Rider brushed her hood off as the main door opened. When the door had risen halfway, Cerise nudged Ruby with her snout. Before the Rider could turn around though to look at her dragon, she was forcibly pushed into the building. Ruby turned her head, but still couldn't get a look at her dragon's eyes, and Cerise mind was now completely sealed.

The main door shut, and Cerise finally stopped pushing. Ruby sighed. "Okay Cerise, you've got me alone, now what's going-" Ruby gasped and doubled over. Not from pain, but the shear amount of emotion that poured off her dragon. If what Ruby felt in the air was a trickle of water, she was just hit with an entire ocean. It wasn't just love either, it was fear, concern, love, depression.

Ruby slowly looked back to her dragon and finally looked in her eyes. They held everything that Ruby felt in her head. If dragons had tear ducts, Cerise' face would be drenched.

The Rider's own eyes started leaking, and she ran to her dragon. Ruby threw her arms around Cerise' neck and squeezed as tightly as she could without choking her. Ruby started sobbing and Cerise hummed again. The dragon started to wrap her neck around her Rider.

Just then, Ruby's feet were knocked out from under her. Just on reflex, she tightened her grip on Cerise neck. Instead of falling to the ground though, something caught the Rider. Ruby looked to her side and saw one of Cerise' wings supporting her. She was gently lowered to the ground, and the wing retracted. Cerise' body then rested on top of Ruby's legs, pinning her.

Cerise lay her head down on the concrete floor, right next to Ruby's. Neither of them said anything for a while. They just stared into each other's eyes. Eventually, Ruby found her voice. "W-what did I do to you?" she choked out.

The now large dragon whimpered. _I was above the hole when you were cornered on the roof._ Cerise moved her head closer to Ruby's. _I know what you thought before you were grabbed._

Ruby's eyes widened in realization. Suddenly their duet in the air made more sense. She sobbed once then turned her head away from Cerise. She couldn't bear to look her in the eye. "I-I'm sorry…I-I couldn't go back. I can't go back…Not again…"

 _I can't blame you for that,_ Cerise hummed and bumped her snout against the back of Ruby's head. _I don't like the how far you would go to prevent it._

"I don't know why I thought it…It just happened…I wasn't in control." Ruby turned her head to look back into Cerise' eye. "I didn't want to hurt you."

Cerise hummed again and inched her head even closer to Ruby. _And I don't want to lose you._ Unable to stop herself, the Rider threw her arms around her dragon's snout. Again, Ruby sobbed for several minutes, soaking her dragon's snout with her tears.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry…" Ruby got out between sobs.

 _Don't blame yourself. You didn't choose this._ Cerise blinked and her eyes hardened ever so slightly. _**I will never let you be taken again.**_ She said that last part in the ancient language, sealing her in an unbreakable oath.

Ruby tightened her grip on her soulmate. Cerise could have said the same thing normally and it would have had a similar effect. The Rider looked deep into her dragon's eyes and dug into her own mind to find the right words. _"I will never take my own life."_ Ruby blinked and couldn't help but chuckle, despite the seriousness of the topic. "Well, those were seven words I never thought I'd say in a sentence."

Cerise blinked and chuckled along with her Rider. She stood up, freeing Ruby's legs. When she raised her head, she took her Rider with her. Ruby ended up standing on her own feet with her arms still wrapped around her dragon's snout. "Not gonna keep me here for a full day?"

The dragon closed her eyes. _I wish I could, but your friends need to see you too._

"I'll be back right afterward. I owe you that much for putting you through that." Ruby slowly pulled away from her dragon and turned toward the door out. As she walked across Beacon's campus, she looked around to see if there was any damage to the school. She didn't think any Grimm could get to the school, but there was always the possibility. Luckily, everything looked like it was intact. The only difference was there were a lot more students up and about than normal.

Ruby entered her residence hall and her shoulders slumped. She was not looking forward to telling her team what happened in the cave. What would they think? What would they say? Aaron would be the most understanding, having gone through the same situation himself. Yang, though, might have a heart attack.

The girl stopped right outside her door. She took a deep breath and opened the door. It wasn't even open a quarter of the way before it was yanked open from the inside. Ruby was quickly pulled inside and brought into a suffocating hug. Yang picked her little sister up off the floor and walked her across the room. She set Ruby down on Weiss' bed and immediately sat by her sister's side. "I wasn't gone for that long was I?" the team leader asked, trying to start the conversation on her own terms.

"That's not the problem here," Aaron said while leaning against Blake and Yang's bunk bed.

"What happened in that cave?" Weiss asked from Blake's bed. The Faunus sat right next to her. "I can only think of one other time when you were that scared."

Ruby looked down to her lap. Cerise pulled all that information from her Rider's head. This was the first time Ruby had to say it. There was a huge difference. "When I fell through the road, I didn't know if I would survive the fall." Ruby looked up slightly to Weiss and Blake. They wore shocked expressions, but not to the extent she feared. Yang put an arm around her shoulders. "I nearly didn't. I landed on a roof in the city, and my Aura was pretty much gone, and so were my wards against impact.

"Two White Fang soldiers found me on the roof. I don't know why, but I froze up." Ruby leaned into her sister. "They weren't there to fight and kill me. They were going to take me. I-" Ruby choked on her words. "I couldn't let that happen. I was seconds away from jumping off the building, and that would have killed me."

Yang tensed up and pulled her little sister in closer. Weiss' and Blake's eyes and mouths were wide with horror. Aaron's shoulders drooped and his eyes turned watery. Ruby finally looked up at her sister and saw Yang's face had lost all its color. Her eyes dripped and her mouth hung open slightly. The younger sister looked back down at her lap, her own tears running again.

"Well, you're braver than I was," Aaron said. Ruby looked up, not understanding. "You at least told us right away. I never told any of my friends. That's not an easy thing to do."

"I know that you can take care of yourself," Yang said, "but this lone wolf stuff _has_ to stop." She pulled Ruby in even closer.

"Trust me, I'm not going out on my own any time soon." Ruby dried her cheeks with an arm.

Weiss and Blake exchanged a glance. Blake looked over at Aaron and he nodded. "Ruby, we think you really need to go see one of the counselors here," the Faunus said.

Ruby looked up with a strange look on her face. "Why would I need to do that? I have you guys." Her words felt hollow as they left her mouth.

"Ruby, please," Yang whispered. "We aren't enough. You need professional help."

"We really don't want to do this, but," Weiss bit her lip, "but if you don't go, we'll have to go to Ozpin and say you aren't fit for missions."

Ruby's eyes widened at her partner. "What?" Her mind quickly flashed back to the first day of classes when Weiss wanted to be the team leader over anything else. "How could you say that?"

"Because you were terrified!" Yang practically yelled. Ruby looked back at her sister. "You even said you froze up. You were going to jump off a roof and..." Yang's throat visibly constricted. "What if that happens again and you don't break out of it?" Ruby wanted to be mad at her sister, but she couldn't muster the thoughts.

"Don't be mad at them," Aaron spoke up, not reading Ruby. "It was my idea." Ruby blinked and narrowed her eyes slightly. "You think I originally got out of my situation alone? Nalia tried her best to get me above water again, but she couldn't. I had to go see counselors myself, and I couldn't leave Vroengard at all for a few months. They helped me out of my hole, well mostly anyway. If you ask Nalia, she'll tell you how much of a wreck I was beforehand."

Ruby looked back down at her lap and sighed. "Alright. I'll set something up later…" she looked outside, "I guess today." There were sighs of relief from everyone else in the room. Ruby yawned deeply. "I'm going to get some sleep though first. I don't think the counseling department is open now anyway."

"I'll walk you back." Yang stood up and helped Ruby to her feet. The two sisters made their way out of the room and out of the dorm. "When you going to call dad?"

The younger sister hesitated. "I'm not."

Yang gasped. "Ruby!"

"I'm going to tell him in person. That's not something that can be said over a scroll. I'll fly home tonight." Yang sighed, then nodded. "You'll be staying, right?" Ruby asked sheepishly.

"Of course." Yang put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "The counselors can take care of you while you're awake, Cerise and I will take care of you while you sleep."

* * *

Boss looked over the recent numbers after the recent 'shopping spree' in the city. The breach came as a complete surprise, but he had enough men in the city to capitalize on the confusion. The amount of stock his men secured would make up for the losses at the mountain base.

Or they would have, if that blasted red dragon hadn't attacked several groups in the affected area. That oversized lizard took out more than half of his men in the city, and likely more than half of the profit. Boss snarled. These dragons were getting out of hand. They would put him out of business if they weren't put down soon.

"Boss," one of his men said, "Queen has another message."

"Send it to my screen." Boss turned to look at the new message. Two messages in two days? Something was up. He blinked a few times and read over the new bounties. Two more targets, Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna. The prices on their heads were more than the others originally. They weren't even his main problem.

Then Boss looked at the updated prices for the existing bounties. They all _doubled._ It was almost worth launching an attack on Beacon for the cash in. If he had a little more firepower, he would level the place the dragons slept. Unfortunately, most of the heavy weaponry went up in smoke with the northern base, or was still being refurbished at his current base, not that the biggest guns could be moved.

Boss leaned back in his chair. With the amount placed on all those people's heads, he considered going out to take a few shots at the targets himself. He hadn't been out in the field since the last Rose. Still, he barely came out of that one alive, and he had the bionics to prove it. He doubted he'd fare any better this time around. Better to leave it to his Bullhead strike teams. They were always replaceable.

* * *

 **So, yeah. All that happened. Again, I try to base as much of this as I can off similar things in reality. Ruby's reaction last chapter corresponds with PTSD, and her team's reactions this chapter are typical of what friends would/should do. I will admit, I did extensive research to make sure I didn't say anything wrong. I don't want to give people bad advice if they were ever in a similar situation. If I seemed a little preachy at the end of Ruby's POV, good. Some people could really need it.**

 **Going back in the chapter, I think that was the best fight scene I've written so far. Yes, I know people would rather see fight scenes with the rest of the team, and that is coming up. And yes, true to the show, Sun and Neptune did absolutely nothing.**


	29. Secrets Revealed

**This one's a little slow at times, but bear with me. This will be the last slow chapter for a while. Filler, filler, more filler, and a little bit of character development.**

* * *

Aaron stood just inside the Dragonhouse watching the three younger dragons roll around on the floor. After the battle in Vale, they all needed a break. Nalia was the only dragon with 'significant' injuries. Cerise was untouched and Halcyon barely had a scratch. Since their mission ended several days earlier than expected, team RWBY was the only first year team still at Beacon. Team JNPR made it out to their mission a few hours after the battle. Sun and Neptune apparently were assigned to help investigate the breach. Weiss and Blake were out talking with the two guys.

Not everyone was so lucky though. There were more Nevermores in another part of the city that kidnapped more Faunus. That's what Aaron thought anyway. No reports stated that any Grimm made it to that area. Naturally, Ruby wanted to go after them right away, but was called off by her team and the Atlesian military.

Aaron looked over at the other three Riders. Ruby stood smiling and laughing at the dragons as they played together. She, Yang, and their dragons flew to Patch the day before to visit home. They all kept their mouths shut about it when they returned. Ruby, though, showed no signs of distress. She was back to her normal self. Whether it was a genuine return or just a mask was yet to be seen.

Nalia hummed beside Aaron as she watched the other dragons. _I'm glad they're all getting along,_ she told her Rider.

 _You expected differently?_ At that moment, Cerise pounced on Halcyon, knocking her smaller brother to the ground. Vert then jumped onto Cerise' back and bit down on one of the red dragon's ears. Cerise mock roared in pain and fell off her brother. Halcyon used this time to pin his sister. He snorted in thanks at the small dragon. Vert stood proudly, then pranced over to Velvet.

Nalia's wings drooped ever so slightly, and a feeling of loss came over the mental link. _Irolon would have loved this._

Aaron put a hand on the side of his dragon's head. _I know he would. I'm bonded to you and I don't know what you're going through._

 _I won't have another mate for a long time, if ever._ Nalia shifted her head to look at Cerise, who was 'growling' at Vert. _Those two are the last hope for dragons, and even then we barely stand a chance._

 _What about Halcyon?_

Nalia gently snorted. _I watched him hatch. I'm the closest thing any of them have to a mother._ She drew her lips back, baring her sharp teeth. _There is no way I'll mate with any of the thirteen. They don't deserve it._

Vert turned to face Nalia and cocked his head. He slowly walked over, then jumped up onto Nalia's snout. Nalia tried to focus on the extra weight on her head, but Vert sat perfectly in her blind spot. The much larger dragon growled. _You would be wise to get off my head._ Vert squeaked, which at that point was turning into a light roar. The small dragon leaped off Nalia and into Velvet's arms.

"Geez Velvet," Yang rolled her eyes. "Control your dragon."

Velvet turned to Yang. "Remember when you let Halcyon run around the cafeteria unsupervised?"

"Hey, a growing dragon's got to eat." Halcyon snorted his agreement.

Aaron rolled his eyes, shook his head, and smiled. He much preferred this over the non-stop, vigorous training back on Vroengard. Only time would tell which was more useful. Still, there was something else on his mind. "Hey Ruby, I need to ask a favor." He walked over to the red Rider.

Ruby looked over and cocked her head. "What do you need?"

"It's about my V4." Ruby stood up slightly straighter and her eyes lit up. "As you may have seen, having that and a shield doesn't mix well in combat. It takes way too long to switch between them. Now, I don't know if I can ask this, but could you make it collapsible like your scythe?"

Some of the light disappeared from Ruby's eyes and her shoulders slumped slightly. Her gaze wasn't focused on anything, just occasionally flicking from side to side. "Can I take a closer look at it?" Aaron looked back at Nalia and waved her over. He grabbed the weapon off the saddle and handed it to Ruby. She looked it over with a critical eye. Every few seconds she nodded, and a smile slowly formed on her face. "Are you overly attached to the looks or functionality?"

Aaron shook his head. "As long as it works, I don't care what it looks like. And if you're asking about adding more onto it, knock yourself out."

Ruby smiled and nodded. "Never had the chance to work on one of these before." She started walking over to her workbench in the building but stopped by her dragon. Cerise looked at Ruby, then dropped to the ground. Ruby held the gun up to the saddle, barrel facing forward. She held it at various heights and adjusted the angles.

"Is she really thinking about arming her saddle?" Yang scratched her head.

"You'd expect different from your sister?" Velvet asked.

Yang shrugged. "You have a point there. How you doing with that rock by the way?"

Vert jumped out of his Rider's arms and took his place by her feet. Velvet took a small rock out of her pocket. Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "Stenr reisa." The small rock slowly took to the air. "My team's pretty impressed. They didn't think these kinds of things were possible." The rock fell back into her hand.

"How'd they take the rest of it?" Aaron asked as kindly as he could.

Velvet's shoulders sagged and her rabbit ears drooped. "As well as they could, I guess. Coco's having a hard time believing it, but she's still supportive. She does want Vert out of the room in the next few days though."

"It's probably for the best." Yang put a hand on Velvet's shoulder. "We still need to fix all the scrapes in our floor from when Cerise could still fit in there."

"He's always welcome in here," Aaron said. "As are you if you ever want to spend the night with him."

Velvet blushed and nodded. "I might have to take you up on that."

Ruby rejoined the other Riders. "I'm back! What I miss?"

"We're planning on taking over Remnant." Yang crossed her arms.

Aaron snapped his head over to Yang. "What?"

"Ooo, how we planning on taking out Atlas?" Ruby asked, intrigued.

"Well, if it's anything like the board game, they should be weak to the-"

"Hold up!" Aaron interrupted. "Did _I_ miss something here?"

The other three Riders laughed. "You really need to work on your sarcasm detection Aaron," Yang said when she composed herself.

Aaron sighed. "When will things stop surprising me?"

"I doubt that's ever going to happen," Velvet said.

Ruby laughed again and turned to Aaron. "I've been wondering something about your sword for a while."

"I don't know how it was forged if that's what you're asking." Aaron smiled.

"Why is there an emerald in the pommel? You don't seem like the kind of guy to flaunt that kind of thing." The other two Riders turned to Aaron. Apparently they were all wondering the same thing.

Aaron's eyes sparkled. "I was wondering when you'd ask that. Certain gemstones can store energy. It can be used later to aid in spells or give strength or speed to do something you couldn't do normally."

The three other Riders raised their eyebrows. "We can do that?" Yang asked.

"Saved Nalia's and my skin a few times. It is a more advanced technique though. You three won't be able to do that for a while yet."

"That could be useful in a tight situation." Velvet patted the box on her belt a few times.

At that moment, Weiss and Blake walked into the Dragonhouse. They joined the circle the Riders made. Vert laid down between Weiss and Velvet, and both of them scratched behind the dragon's ears. "Looks like we're all here." Aaron turned to Velvet. "You sure you don't want to come along?"

Velvet shook her head. "You're the only ones with this week off. I've got class in a half hour."

"Do we have to go now?" Weiss asked, still scratching the young dragon. "I just got here."

Everyone else laughed. "Weiss, I think you have a problem," Ruby said.

"Anyway, the lunch prices end at one." Aaron took out his scroll and looked at the time. "That's an hour from now, and because of that storm nearby our dragons are grounded."

Weiss sighed and nodded. "Point taken."

"You know that you have several other dragons to dote over, right?" Blake asked.

"It gets weird when they can talk," Weiss sighed. Aaron gave a sideways nod. She had a point. Once dragons could talk, they only let their Riders or young children treat them like that.

"We'll see you later, Velvet," Ruby said, then she turned around and lead her team out the door. Once they left Beacon's campus, she turned to look at Aaron. "What's the place we're going to again?"

"It's called Wentz. It has a lot of five star reviews online and it's prices are reasonable."

"Where'd _you_ find out about this place?" Yang asked. "You aren't exactly the most connected person around."

"I overheard a few people talking in the cafeteria a while back. One of them said something about a glazed doughnut bacon cheeseburger, and I had to check it out." Aaron saw Ruby's and Yang's eyes light up, and Weiss grimaced. Blake had no outward reaction.

"How would all that taste together?" the Faunus asked.

"I guess we're going to find out." Aaron turned to Weiss. "They do have more healthy options as well."

Weiss sighed. "Good. That sounds like a heart attack on a plate."

"Nah, that's in Vacuo." Yang smirked. "Seriously, there's a place in Vacuo that sells a 'heart attack' burger."

"I don't want to know how you knew that." The heiress shook her head.

"It was on Faunus vs. Food once. And boy, did it look good."

Aaron chuckled, then looked at the sky north of Vale. There was a massive storm in that direction, and it was messing with the wind, even from several miles away. "That's all supposed to stay north of us, right?"

"Unfortunately, we need the rain." Weiss also looked at the clouds. Several flashes of lightning spread their way through the clouds.

"Looks like it's a good one too." Yang stopped for a second to admire the view.

Aaron grimaced. "I hate storms." He winced as several lightning strikes hit the ground.

"You're not afraid of lightning, are you?" A small smile formed on Blake's face.

"More than one pair has been killed by lightning and storms. Nalia and I barely survived one." Aaron sighed and looked at the sister Riders. "I really need to get teach you two how to make wards against lightning."

"If Atlas grounds their frigate when the storm's that far away, I'm perfectly fine staying on the ground." Ruby grabbed Yang's arm and pulled her sister forward once again.

Yang smiled and shook her head. Then she blinked a few times and cast a sideways glance at Aaron. _Could those wards could protect Ruby from internal shock as well?_ Yang asked mentally.

Aaron's head straightened and he unintentionally took in a sharp breath. _That is very possible._ He looked at the back of Ruby's head. Ever since the sisters flew home, Aaron was working on creating a spell that could detect a tracker in Ruby that was simple enough that Yang could cast it in a few seconds. He hadn't thought about interfering with the effects it gave off. With the light show to the north, he had a way to get Ruby to protect herself without her even knowing about the situation.

A gust of wind blew over the group. All the girls adjusted their hair while Aaron pulled his hat on tighter. Ruby kept a hand moving by her left ear though. She slowed down and took her scroll out of a pocket. She hit something on the screen and held her scroll by her ear. "What?" Ruby stopped in her tracks.

"Something wrong Ruby?" Weiss asked.

Ruby ran her hand over her ear again. "Am I the only one seeing this?"

Yang squinted her eyes. "I don't see what's…" Her eyes widened. "When did that happen?"

Weiss also took a look at the ear. "That doesn't look normal."

Curious, Aaron walked to the other side of Ruby and looked at the offending ear. He raised his eyebrows at the slight straightening of the upper part of Ruby's ear. "Wow, you're an early bloomer for everything."

Ruby looked at Aaron with a worried expression. "Is that a good thing?"

"It's not good or bad, it just is. For a reason beyond my comprehension, human Riders begin to take on the physical appearance of elves. If I had to take a guess as to why, the bond between dragons and elves is stronger than the one with humans." Ruby blinked and ran both her hands over her ears.

"And she doesn't have a say in this?" Weiss demanded.

Aaron sighed. "Normally, she would, but sometimes the process doesn't happen for decades. It didn't happen for me before I left, so I was never taught the spells to slow or stop the process. As you can see, it still doesn't apply." He gestured at his own ears.

Yang now ran a hand over one of her ears. "How's this going to work for Velvet?"

"She's the first Faunus Rider. I have no idea how she's going to turn out."

"I don't see how this could be a problem." Ruby smiled. "I'm going to be prettier than Yang soon."

The older sister crossed her arms. "Nope. Not allowed. Slow it down yourself." She looked over at Aaron. "You know how to speed the process up?"

Aaron laughed. "I don't even know if that exists."

Yang sighed. "This isn't fair."

* * *

The team entered the city and Aaron took the lead. Apparently he memorized the online map before they left. Ruby stayed right behind him and looked around the city. Apparently the Grimm never made it to this part of Vale. Everyone was walking around and acting normally. No windows were broken, and there wasn't any rubble in the streets. If anything was unusual, it was the increased number of police on the streets.

As they passed South Fifth Street, Ruby couldn't help but look down the road where Aaron and she found the warehouse of Faunus kids. She looked down both sides of the road but couldn't find it. Then she saw one side of the street blocked off. Several pieces of heavy machinery sat in the road, next to a half torn down building. That had to be the warehouse. Even though it really was just a building, Ruby was glad to see it go. She wouldn't be able to pass it without thinking about that day.

The team arrived at Wentz and were quickly seated at a table. "Well this brings back memories." Yang put her arms behind her head.

"Fingers crossed we don't have to leave in a hurry this time." Ruby actually crossed her fingers.

Aaron shrugged. "I don't see why we'd have to. Our dragons are safe at Beacon and Atlas has the city protected on all sides. We should be fine."

"Besides, no one's doing anything dangerous," Blake chipped in.

"Well, aside from food choices anyway." Weiss stared at a glazed doughnut burger as a waitress brought it by the table.

"Don't knock it till you try it." Yang smirked at the heiress. Weiss and Blake rolled their eyes.

Soon after the waitress came and took everyone's drink orders. She turned back as she was walking away though. "Excuse me, but are you by any chance team RWBAY?"

Ruby scrunched her eyes. "Uh," her gaze shifted over to Aaron, "I guess we are."

The waitress smiled. "Thank you all for what you did two days ago."

"How'd you know it was us?" Blake asked.

The waitress gestured to one of the many screens in the restaurant. "You've been on and off the news all day." Ruby looked at one of the screens that showed Vox News. The scroll bar at the bottom said 'Several Beacon teams defend the city of Vale from Grimm attack.'

Ruby smiled. "That's the kind of news I don't mind having out there. Not that…other stuff." No one at the table questioned her, and the waitress walked away. The team leader turned back to Aaron. "So, about your V4…"

Yang rolled her eyes. "Here we go." Ruby ignored her sister, and pressed Aaron for technical details on how he'd like the 'new' weapon to look and feel. Some things Aaron put some thought into and either approved or denied. Most though, he looked utterly confused, and Ruby's explanations didn't seem to help. For those, he just gave a hesitant 'sure.'

After Ruby felt she got all the info she needed, the let the table's conversation to drift to more normal things. She occasionally looked up at the screens to see if her team was being shown again. Unfortunately, nothing came up before their food arrived.

Everyone dug into their food. Weiss was the only one not to get something that involved large amounts of bacon and grease. Who knew a doughnut would be good as burger buns? Ruby turned her gaze to the screens again and saw her team standing on the stage in the plaza. "Hey look guys, we're on TV."

The team turned their eyes to the screens and watched the news footage. It cut to various Scroll and security camera angles, capturing various aspects of the battle. Ruby watched intently to pick out anything that could have gone better. She pointed out everything she saw, and Weiss picked up what she missed.

Still, some of the footage was unsettling to Ruby. She could tell when some parts of the battle were, and she didn't look the best at the beginning. It wasn't her skill or form, she just looked scared. Apparently she didn't get into the right state of mind until after Cerise saved her from that King Taijitu. After that, she wore what she normally considers her fighting face.

The news switched its attention to Cerise attacking the Nevermores in another part of the city. Ruby unintentionally balled her fists and glared at the screen. She still couldn't believe anyone would take advantage of a situation like that. Then again, the Nevermores weren't exactly a charity organization.

The footage showed Cerise pin two kidnappers to the ground and the dragon growling at them. Soon after, she looked at some other people on the street and gestured them to come over. They did reluctantly, then took Cerise' place holding down the kidnappers. The dragon then turned around and hummed at a Faunus kid on the other side of the road. She took off soon after.

"That was a quick mood change," Blake commented.

Ruby smiled. "That's my Cerise."

"That's any dragon," Aaron said. "They're all very protective of the young, no matter the species. Believe me, if the rest of the Dragon Riders were here, they'd go after the Nevermores until they were all dead or behind bars."

"Sounds like we have some work to do then," Yang said without any emotion. Ruby looked at her sister, slightly worried. She knew Yang hated the Nevermores and possibly had a personal vendetta against them, but she didn't know how far her sister would go to take them down.

Ruby turned back to the screen and saw a very familiar video of the first warehouse. It was the one that all the news organizations ran; Cerise and Nalia flying away from the building as the SWAT team brought the Faunus kids out to the waiting ambulances. Ruby shrunk in her seat. "Okay, that's enough, you can stop talking about me now…" she murmured.

"Ruby, you okay?" Yang asked using her concerned big sister voice.

"...I don't know." Ruby took a long sip of her beverage. The news feed changed to two people sitting at a table. The subject banner read 'RWBAY and the Nevermores.'

Ruby read the captions of the people talking. "What do you think of the rumors that this team is the same one who raided the Nevermore base north of here?" Ruby choked on her drink and it took her a few seconds to recover.

"Son of a…" Yang muttered under her breath, apparently reading the same thing.

"What's going…?" Weiss started. "Oh my..."

Ruby stared at the remaining food on her plate without seeing it. _There are rumors about that?_

A hand fell on the girl's shoulder. "Take it easy, Ruby," Blake comforted. "They're just rumors. Nothing concrete."

"Then what do you call that?" Aaron growled. Ruby looked back up to the screen and saw the rest of her team either standing or sitting in a white hallway. It took her a few seconds to realize it was on the _Vytal._ The words 'inside source' caught her attention.

The image on screen changed to the hanger on the _Vytal_. It didn't take Ruby long to find herself in there. She had her right arm draped over Aaron's shoulders. A good chunk of her metal arm was showing.

Surprisingly, Ruby wasn't terrified. She didn't like that someone revealed that she was at that base, but she wasn't going into full blown panic mode either. Ruby looked down at her bionic arm. She turned it over on the table multiple times, then looked back up to the news. "It won't take them long to figure out at least that one's fake."

No one spoke at the table. Ruby turned to look at her team. All of them had surprised faces. "Uhh, Ruby?" Yang mumbled.

"That picture showed that I had a metal arm." Ruby raised both arms and turned them from side to side. "No metal here, though that would be cool." She let her arms fall back to the table.

Cerise entered her Rider's mind. _You're taking this better than I thought you would._

Ruby gently turned her head to roughly look in Cerise' direction. _Same here. I'm not complaining, but why aren't I freaking out?_

 _Your arm and leg did save you on that roof. That could have something to do with it._

The tension at the table disappeared rapidly and Yang rested her chin on a hand. "Now that I think of it, wasn't that the hospital back on Patch?" She once again fell into the cover story of why her team disappeared that day.

"I can't think of anywhere else that would be," Weiss sighed, then scrunched up her face. "That _was_ the same day, wasn't it?"

Aaron snorted. "Whoever this guy is, he did his research, but not enough. I'm going to have to have a talk with this 'inside source' if I ever meet him."

"If that was the hospital, where was Ruby?" Blake brought up the hole in their cover story.

Ruby scratched her head. "I wasn't ever alone with dad, sooooo, bathroom?" She cast a quick glance at Blake and wondered what she'd do if people found out that she was a Faunus. Ruby looked back down at her bionic arm. It would still be a little while until people found out about her injuries.

That thought made Ruby freeze up, and she suddenly realized why she didn't have a freak-out session. Ruby rested her head on her hands on the table. For whatever reason Yang bolted out of her chair. "How could I be so selfish?" Ruby mumbled. A hand fell on her shoulder. She looked up and saw that Yang made it around the table. Her whole body was tense, but it rapidly decreased when the sisters made eye contact.

"What's wrong?" Yang once again used her protective big sister voice.

"This." Ruby raised her right arm. "I got something that no one else did. I had the chance to look normal, and I took it. Everyone else is still missing ears, tails, and antlers. They can't hide in plain sight." She suddenly didn't care who overheard their conversation.

Aaron sighed across the table. "You should know I've been working on a way to regrow all that since after we got back to Beacon. I've made some progress, but I'm still nowhere close to where it can be used."

Ruby turned to Aaron. "And when you crack it?"

"We'll make the rounds." Aaron looked Ruby right in the eyes. "They won't be like that forever."

"Don't beat yourself up Ruby," Blake said from behind Yang. The blonde pulled back and returned to her seat. "Anyone would have done what you did. It's not that bad to look after yourself every once and awhile."

Ruby sighed and nodded. "Thanks guys."

Just then the waitress came back to the table. "Looks like today's your lucky day," she said as she placed the check on the table. "All of your meals have been paid for."

Everyone at the table sat a little straighter. "By who?" Weiss asked.

The waitress gestured over her shoulder. "Those four Beacon students. Apparently you have some admirers." She walked away and Ruby looked at the four in question.

Her eyes widened slightly. It was the same four who saw Ruby speaking to Aaron on the balcony all those nights ago. A Faunus in the group looked up and smiled. He raised his glass. The rest of his table turned around and did the same. They all simultaneously took a drink and turned back to their table.

"Anyone know those people?" Yang asked while she scratched her head.

"I've seen them around, but I've never talked to them," Blake said.

"I had a more…direct run in with them," Ruby started. "They kind of saw my arm when it was still bare."

"When did that happen?" Weiss looked at her team leader with slightly worried eyes.

Ruby stammered, then looked over at Aaron. "They saw when Ruby was talking me down," he said. "As far as I know, they haven't said anything."

Weiss' scroll rang and she rolled her eyes. "That's Neptune's ring tone. Why is he calling? He knows we're out."

"Isn't he supposed to be on the job too?" Aaron asked. Weiss nodded and her scroll stopped ringing.

A few seconds later, Blake's scroll rang to life. Ruby rolled her eyes. "Silence your scrolls people…"

"Neptune _and_ Sun? Maybe something's actually going on." Blake took out her scroll. "Yes Sun?… Yeah we're still in town…She's with us.…" She cast a glance at Ruby. "Apparently they've been told to ask you about the Nevermores since you have some involvement."

Ruby cocked her head. "No one ever did talk to me about them after the warehouse. Weird. Better late than never though."

Blake nodded, then turned away from the table. "She's fine with it. You have a place in mind?... I'm sure that's fine. See you then." She closed her scroll and turned back to her team. "He said meet them on South Sixth and Main in a half hour."

Ruby nodded then looked back and forth between Weiss and Blake. "Don't take this the wrong way, but can we trust them, at least until I'm ready for it to come out with this?"

Blake instantly nodded, but Weiss was slightly more hesitant. "Neptune doesn't keep secrets very well. I think I could convince him to stay quiet, but it might take a while."

"I can help with that too." Yang cracked her knuckles. Weiss glared at Yang but didn't say anything.

"Well let's finish up here and go meet them. Don't want to keep the junior detectives waiting." Everyone dug back into their food and finished up. Of course, they had to wait another five minutes for Weiss to finish, as usual. She left a substantial tip on the table as the team left.

Even though team RWBY had several blocks to cross before getting to the meet up, they still made it several minutes before Neptune and Sun showed up. "'Sup losers," Sun called.

"Hey Sun." Ruby waved at the two as they approached. "Hit traffic along the way?"

"Something like that," Neptune shrugged, then looked around the assemble people. "You know we only needed to talk to Ruby, right?"

"I've had the same involvement with the Nevermores that Ruby has," Aaron said. "I could help too."

Yang crossed her arms. "Let's be honest here, everything Ruby knows, we know."

Sun nodded then scratched the back of his head. "Let's be clear here, this wasn't our idea. This came from up top. They figured you'd be more likely to talk to us than other detectives."

"Let me guess, this came up after the Vox News story?" Ruby asked.

"They need to get their fact checking right." Neptune shook his head. "In one of those pictures, you clearly had a metal arm."

"Not to mention we were at a hospital on Patch at the same time." Weiss once again brought up the cover story.

"And I don't want to touch that with a ten foot pole." Sun shook his head. "Something tells me if something sketchy was going on, Atlas doesn't want who really attacked that base getting out, and they won't want a couple of junior detectives checking it out."

Ruby nodded. "So what did you need to know?" Sun and Neptune both took out notepads, and Sun gestured down the road. They didn't ask anything too intense. It was basically stuff that the news had already reported anyway, like how many Faunus were in the warehouse. Ruby didn't like putting her mind back in that place, but Aaron stepped in and answered some of the darker things.

As they walked, Ruby saw that Sun was holding back on something. When the questions were winding down, she brought it up. "Sun, I don't need to be a mind reader to know you want to ask me something else."

Sun sighed and put his small notebook back in his pocket. Neptune did the same. "This is completely off the record." Sun threw a glare at Neptune, then looked back at the entirety of team RWBY. "Were any of you at that place?"

Ruby knew that question was coming long ago, but she didn't have a definite answer until that second. "I don't know about the rest of the team, but I wasn't there." She saw a light post coming up, and knocked the fingers of her right hand on it. A strong metallic ring came forth.

Sun and Neptune's eyes widened, but Sun's returned to normal in a split second. "Okay then, thank you for your time, and, uh," he slightly turned away, "everything else."

Neptune nodded as well, then turned back to face Yang. His face lost some of its color and he looked straight ahead again. "Sun, we should probably report back in now."

"Probably for the best." Sun turned to face Blake. "See you later." He gave the Faunus girl a short wrist wave. Blake returned the favor. Neptune followed Sun immediately without saying anything to Weiss.

"What did you say to him?" Weiss demanded. Ruby turned back to her team to see Weiss looking angrily at Yang.

The blonde crossed her arms. "I just said what Halcyon and I would do to him if he told anyone about this before Ruby was ready." Yang turned to Ruby. "I don't understand what you said though."

Ruby shrugged. "That wasn't really me there. I wasn't myself until I was up on the _Vytal."_

Yang gave a sideways nod. "Fair point."

Aaron smiled. "I think you'd fit in well with the elves."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Ruby looked down at her right arm and pinched the fake skin on her hand. "This is coming off tonight. I owe the rest of them that much."

* * *

 **Discount Fox news...man, that's a scary thought (ding!).**

 **Well Ruby didn't quite turn into a badass again, she's taking steps in that direction.**

 **To mention some real life events, some of you may have noticed that the restaurant was named after the second overall draft pick (horns up, wings out!). Love that guy. Also, Civil War comes out on Friday, and I'm seeing it Thursday at 7. The hype is real. Team Cap all the way! Finally, RWBY Chibi and RvB 14 come out this weekend. That will be interesting.**


	30. Team Attacked

**A lot of things I want to address before this chapter, mainly because I want to keep the second author's note short. If you leave a question in the reviews and want an answer, please don't leave it anonymously. The only questions I address in author's notes are common questions asked in either reviews or PMs. If I don't respond right away to these things, either wait for the next chapter, or I feel like it's a spoiler in some way or another.**

 **Another thing that I should have addressed long ago, some of you mentioned that I beat you to the punch in making a RWBY/Inheritance Cycle crossover. Unless I completely took your idea, I only got the right to say 'first.' If you have an idea, get it on Word or another supported program and get it up here. This goes for any fanfiction. If you have an idea, act on it. Don't let it sit.**

 **Oh yeah, finals week without any actual finals! I might as well be on summer vacation now.**

 **As for the new things this weekend, Civil War was AWESOME! Seriously, get tickets ASAP if you haven't seen it. Red vs Blue, actually quite entertaining. RWBY Cibi on the other hand...meh. Not gut busting like everyone is claiming it to be. The katana joke, in what I think should be even more family friendly than the actual show...napalm strike bound for the reviews and my inbox.**

 **Finally, for those of you affected by the Canadian fires, I feel for you. That can't be easy to deal with at all.  
**

 **Enough of my rambling. Enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

Ruby stood up and moved her right arm around to straighten out the fake skin. It was the first time she had it on in a few weeks, and she would be lying if she said she didn't miss feeling things on her arm. For the most part, people were shocked to see Ruby's metal arm. Many people asked what really happened, if she really was at the Nevermore base, and she only told them that she was injured while getting onto a transport. It was true enough, and luckily no one assumed that she was among the kidnapped.

The Rider turned around and picked up Aaron's modified V4. She flipped a switch on the side, and the weapon collapsed into a box no bigger than a scroll. Ruby smiled. That was the first time she incorporated that system into an existing weapon. It still wasn't anywhere near as complicated as Crescent Rose, but it didn't need to be.

 _Are you ready for today?_ Cerise asked her Rider.

Ruby turned around to look at her dragon. "I should be asking you that. I'm not the one who's training against Nalia. You're the one who needs to be careful." She walked over to Cerise' side and inspected her new adjustments to the saddle. Shortly after Ruby took her fake skin off, she made a small metal box on each side of the saddle to help control her scythe's recoil. It wouldn't help to fly off Cerise' back every time she took a shot. Ruby also started making some weapon mounts for the saddle. The problem was Cerise and she couldn't decide if they should be in front of Ruby's legs or on another harness to hang under the dragon's wings.

 _She may be the fastest, but I believe I'm more agile than her. She's just too big._ Ruby looked over Cerise' shoulder and saw Nalia stretching out like people do before a real workout.

"Don't count her out yet. She does have a few years more experience than you." Ruby tightened one of the saddle straps, then patted Cerise' shoulder. The dragon rolled her shoulders out and stretched her back. "You good?"

 _This isn't going anywhere._ Cerise hummed and nudged her Rider. _I love you._

Ruby smiled again. "I love you too." The main door to the Dragonhouse opened and Vert and Velvet walked. Vert had grown so much in the past few weeks, and in a few minutes the newest pair was going on their first flight together. The young green dragon was already wearing a saddle, most likely breaking it in.

"Hey Velvet!" Ruby called. The rabbit Faunus looked over to Ruby and gave a small wave. "You ready for your first flight?"

Velvet shrugged. "Yes and no. I've never been the best with heights."

Vert snorted and nudged his Rider. _I'll break you out of that soon enough. We'll take it slow._ His mental voice sounded like a guy in his twenties.

"You'll be fine. I didn't fall off my first time, and Cerise and Nalia raced each other."

Velvet blinked. "Have you ever fallen off?"

"Only intentionally for some skydiving." Ruby turned back to Cerise. "We need to do that with Yang and Halcyon some time." Her dragon chuckled.

Velvet looked at Vert's saddle. "Ruby, could you take a look at this, make sure I strapped it on right?"

"Sure thing." Ruby walked over to Vert's side. Everything looked like it was in the right place. She used a finger to test how tight it was. "If anything, it's too tight. Right now, it would make Vert's breathing a little more labored than usual. Also, it would restrict his neck and back movements more that it should. Otherwise, the two of you are good to go."

As Velvet loosened the straps, the main door opened again. Yang and Halcyon lead the way inside with the rest of the team right behind. "Hey Ruby," Yang called, "you ever been inside Cerise head while flying? Like, fully?"

"Yep. We practically took a dip in the ocean." Ruby smiled, and shut out the memories of what happened after that flight.

Yang turned back to Halcyon. "I knew you needed your tail for flight, I just didn't know how much."

Halcyon gave his best attempt at a smirk. _I still don't see how all of you can walk around on two legs._

"I guess we'll have to switch bodies sometime," Yang joked, then blinked and turned to Aaron. "Is that even possible?"

Aaron shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know, but that would be different."

Nalia snorted from the other side of the Dragonhouse. _Don't get any ideas._ She slowly walked over to the group.

Velvet stood up from beside Vert. She pulled on one of the saddle straps and nodded. "I think we're good to go." Vert dropped to his belly and Velvet climbed up.

"Have fun up there." Ruby waved at the pair as they left the building.

 _May the wind be at your backs,_ Nalia called. Velvet looked back and waved at the group. She then grabbed onto the spike in front of her. Vert jumped into the air soon after. Ruby could have sworn she heard a light scream. Cerise' and Halcyon's snickers confirmed that.

Weiss sighed and slumped her shoulders. "Still upset that all the dragons are grown up?" Blake teased.

"They grow up so fast. Literally! Now there won't be any more for a long time." Weiss crossed her arms and shook her head. Ruby got a strange feeling from Cerise. She looked at her dragon, but her face didn't reveal anything.

Aaron turned to Ruby. "You said you had my V4 ready?"

Ruby smiled and took the little green box out of a pocket. She flicked the switch and the box transformed into a heavily modified V4. A completely new stock popped out and latched onto her forearm. The main barrel was split in half and rested on either side of the receiver. The grenade launcher and bayonet were hidden under each half of the barrel. "Hope you don't mind I added this submachine gun form. This baby can now go fully automatic like this or as an assault rifle. I also decreased the recoil, so you could fire it like this with one hand." Ruby flicked the switch again and the barrel snapped to the front. The grenade launcher took its place underneath and the bayonet stuck out just above where the grenade would fire. The stock returned to its normal form. "Fixed the problem where you couldn't have both these attachments on at the same time. Sorry, but you'll have to aim a little higher to get your normal range."

Aaron whistled and took his weapon from Ruby. "Did you make this thing lighter too?" The weapon fanatic just nodded. Aaron flicked a switch, and the whole thing collapsed in his hand. "This could be very useful."

"Your ammo has to stay the same size though. No way around that."

"So, why did you call us here?" Weiss asked.

Ruby smirked as she switched to her team leader mode. She clasped her hands behind her back. "As you all know, we've been working on our team attacks for the past few weeks, and bringing Aaron into the mix. I believe we've had enough experience on the training field and we're ready to go out into the Emerald Forest."

There were nods of agreement all around, but they were hesitant from Yang and Aaron. "How far out we going?" Yang asked.

"As far as we need." Ruby shrugged. "We have the rest of the day, and I've packed a light lunch for each of us. We won't go as far out as Mountain Glen. No need to." Yang and Aaron exchanged a quick glance. Outwardly, Ruby didn't react. _Is there something going on between those two?_ she thought to Cerise. _They've been spending a lot of time together lately._

 _You'd know better than I would,_ Cerise said, also unmoving.

"How are we going to get out there?" Blake asked.

Aaron smirked this time. "Nalia can carry all of us if needed, but Ruby and Yang have their own dragons, and there are only room for two on her saddle."

Weiss and Blake looked at each other. "So one of us is being left behind?" Blake asked.

"Nope. I'll just hold onto one of Nalia's legs. Been awhile since I've flown like that."

Ruby and Yang stared openly at Aaron. "You do that?" the younger sister asked.

"It's a useful skill for when Riders need to get somewhere quick. The few extra seconds could matter."

Yang turned to Halcyon and smirked. The gold dragon lightly growled. _Not yet._ _Wait until my legs are bigger than you._

"Fine with me."

"Okay! We're losing daylight. Let's get moving!" Ruby cheered, then jumped onto Cerise' saddle. Yang quickly climbed into her own and Aaron helped Weiss and Blake onto Nalia's back.

"Ruby, why are you wearing that arm?" Yang asked. "I thought you had another one ready."

"I thought about it, but decided against it." Ruby rubbed her right wrist. "I haven't had the chance to test everything on the other one, and I'd rather do that with some tools nearby in case anything goes wrong."

Halcyon cocked his head. _You can make things that don't work?_

Ruby laughed. Yang was really brushing off on her dragon. "My first attempt at Crescent Rose practically exploded when I unfolded it for the first time." She looked over at Nalia and saw everyone in place on the large dragon. Ruby reached to the side and grabbed her new motorcycle helmet. She put it on and stared out through the red visor. She leaned down and patted Cerise on the neck. "Okay, lead the way."

Cerise nodded and walked out of the Dragonhouse. When the other two cleared the building, she jumped into the air. By that point, Ruby didn't need to push off the spike in front of her; she was used to the initial g-forces. She looked over her shoulder to see Halcyon and Yang flying up behind her. Yang also had her helmet on. Nalia flew up behind the golden dragon, with Aaron hanging off her front right leg. Blake and Weiss looked off the green dragon with open mouths.

 _Why'd you go with the full helmet?_ Yang mentally called. _Don't you like the wind in your face?_

Ruby smirked under her helmet, even though no one would see it. _Intimidation factor._

Yang looked over at her sister. _Seriously?_

 _Let's be honest, I'm not the scariest person around. When I have to face real criminals again, it would be nice for them to think I'm tougher that I look. I'm going to need to get a voice modulator. Can't really scare anyone while sounding like a happy-go-lucky girl._

The older sister took a few seconds to respond. _I don't know. With your new arm and the way you went after Cardin that time, I don't think you need it._

 _You're just saying that._

Cerise turned back slightly. _You could leave the intimidation to me. It is my job to look scary._

Ruby faced back forward and rubbed her dragon's neck. _I've also seen how gentle you can be. Neither of us are strictly scary or not._ Cerise hummed and faced forward again. They flew for a few more minutes, then Cerise hovered over a clearing in the forest. Halcyon and Nalia did the same. All the dragons then dipped down and spiraled toward the ground. They all landed gently and all their riders dropped to the ground. Ruby and Yang took off their helmets and secured them to their respective dragon's saddle.

"You guys do that all the time?" Weiss asked. Ruby turned around to see the smiling heiress. "That was amazing!"

"That was just straight flying." Yang crossed her arms. "I'm sure you'll get some more intense experience at some point."

"Definitely better than a roller coaster," Blake said, also with a smile on her face.

"And it's free!" Ruby was buffeted by a gust of wind as the dragons took off again. She looked up to see all the dragons disappearing over the trees.

"Nalia won't hurt them, right?" Yang asked Aaron.

The green Rider loaded his V4. "She knows what they can do. They might be bruised, but you won't have to worry about healing any major injuries when she's done with them."

Suddenly growls and roars filtered through the trees, not from the dragons. Ruby smiled. It was good to be back in the field, with only her team in 'danger.' "Okay girls, let's show the new guy how it's done." She looked around the tree line surrounding her team. Several sets of evil red eyes glared in her direction. She just smirked back at them and waited for the rush.

Sure enough, several Beowolves rushed them from all sides. "Bumblebee!" Ruby shouted. Blake tossed Yang one end of Gambol Shroud and they separated until the ribbon was taut. Yang fired one of her gauntlets and started to spin in a circle, shooting and kicking Grimm as she passed. Those not involved in the attack jumped deeper into the horde of Grimm. Ruby cut through several Beowolves without being touched, and spiked an Alpha through the head.

Soon after, that wave was decaying on the ground. "That wasn't so bad." Aaron rolled out his shoulders.

"You must not have a lot of experience with this type of situation," Weiss said.

"The first wave is always the weakest." Yang looked out into the forest, arms ready.

Ruby felt the vibrations in the ground before she saw the horde. They needed cover. "Freezerburn!" Everyone but Weiss and Yang jumped out of the center of the clearing. Yang jumped up in the air as Weiss plunged Myrtenaster into the ground, freezing it. The blonde threw a fiery punch into the ground, causing a fog to fill the clearing. The mass of Grimm entered the clearing, and they stood out like a sore thumb in the white fog. Team RWBY quickly dispatched most of them.

An Ursa Major ran out of the forest behind Ruby, and the girl barely managed to get out of the way of a particularly vicious strike. She looked slightly to her right and saw Blake looking at the same Grimm. "Ladybug!" The two teammates ran forward and used their speed to deliver multiple strikes to the creature's lower body. After several runs, Ruby and Blake jumped over the Ursa and sliced it in thirds.

Again there was a slight lull in the action. There were still Grimm around, but either held back for reinforcements or could be easily taken care of by one person. The fog cleared out, and dozens of Grimm lay evaporating in the clearing.

Another roar came through the trees and Ruby saw Yang's head whiped toward it. "I know that sound…" Her voice quivered.

Aaron looked at the blonde confused. "What is it?"

Ruby sighed. "Arachnii. Yang's scared of spiders."

"I don't see how the rest of you aren't!" Yang yelled backing away toward the far side of the clearing. Sure enough, a black spider slightly smaller than a Deathstalker burst through the trees. Yang yelped and ran behind some other trees.

Ruby rolled her eyes as she switched the magazine in her scythe for one with primarily ice Dust. "Ice Flower!" She dug the tip of Crescent Rose into the ground and Weiss raised a glyph at the end of the barrel. Ruby fired eight shots, one at each leg. Every one of them froze the entire limb and the entire body. She smirked. As expected, this attack worked much better with the right kind of Dust. Maybe they could try it with different glyphs and Dust rounds...but now wasn't the time to think about that.

The Arachnii was frozen in place but not dead. "Shadow Claw!" Blake and Aaron ran forward and underneath the Grimm. They cut off the front legs in unison, then switched sides and took out the next row, and repeated the process until all legs were gone. Ruby heard Ember Celica fire from behind her, and the Arachnii's head exploded. Also according to plan.

"I hate spiders. I hate spiders. I hate spiders." Yang came out from behind her tree.

"You still killed it. That's an improvement." Ruby smiled up at her sister, and received a growl in response.

Cerise pressed her mind against Ruby's. _Heads up, you've got a Deathstalker heading right toward you._

 _How big?_ Ruby searched the tree line for any sign of the large Grimm.

 _Big._ Cerise sent a mental image of the Grimm. It was slightly larger than the one from initiation.

"Deathstalker coming up!" Ruby heard the Grimm's roar and turned toward it. Her team lined up facing it. Ruby turned back and searched the tree line behind her. She saw a tree that looked like it could hold her weight and ran toward it. She fired Crescent Rose at the ground and launched herself into the tree. When she settled, the dug the back end of her scythe into the trunk, hoping it could take the recoil. From her new vantage point, she saw trees being knocked over in the distance, but approaching quickly.

When the Deathstalker was about to burst through the tree line, Ruby yelled, "Prairie!" Weiss and Blake took several steps backward while Yang and Aaron burst forward. Yang jumped over the giant scorpion's pincers and drove both her fists into its head. Her feet stuck straight up in the air. Aaron also jumped over the pincers and onto Yang's raised feet. The Blonde fired her weapons and launched Aaron at the stinger. He swung his sword at the golden stinger and sliced it off. As he flew by, he quickly switched back to his V4 and fired down on the Deathstalker.

Ruby watched the stinger fall to the ground, away from the Grimm. There went Yang finishing it off quickly. Ruby took aim at the legs of the Deathstalker and fired an ice Dust round at each one. The Grimm couldn't move, which set up the next attack nicely. "Checkmate!" As Ruby jumped out of the tree, Weiss and Blake charged forward. They both focused on once pincer with their slashes. Soon enough, that claw was in tatters and then sliced off. Before they could move onto the second though, the Deathstalker broke out of its icy prison. Still, Ruby had it right where she wanted it.

"Red Sky!" Ruby fired Crescent Rose behind her and flew forward. While she was slightly elevated off the ground she moved her scythe to be in front of her. She avoided the remaining pincer and got the tip of her scythe under the Grimm's head. As the Deathstalker tried to free itself from the scythe, Aaron ran over from the side missing the pincer and swung Redemption at the base of the Grimm's head.

The body of the Deathstalker collapsed to the ground, and it's head dangled off Crescent Rose. Ruby swung her weapon up and the head went flying. _Thanks for the heads up, Cerise,_ she called.

 _You're welcome,_ Cerise sent back, then a flash of pain traveled over their connection. Ruby grabbed and rubbed her right arm. It wasn't much, but it would probably leave a bruise under Cerise' scales.

"Looks like we're clear for now." Aaron sheathed his weapon.

Ruby stretched her mind out a ways and didn't feel any Grimm heading in their direction. She sighed. "Take five everyone. Check your ammo. If any one of us gets low, we're heading back."

Yang rubbed her middle of her back. "Nalia's really not going easy on our dragons."

"Just be glad you're training with us, not back on Vroengard. They'd be in much more pain." Aaron sat down under a tree.

Ruby focused on another tree at the edge of the clearing. She remembered that Aaron said that Riders could communicate with nature, and enter the minds of plants and animals. She never tried that before, and she didn't know when she'd be that deep in a forest without Grimm nearby. Ruby walked over to the tree and placed a hand on it. She focused her mind on the tree.

Her eyes widened slightly as she made contact. The tree felt life pure, unadulterated _life_. It had no thoughts, or emotions. It just was. Ruby stretched her mind out to slowly encompass the clearing. She could feel _everything_ in the clearing. Compared to all the plants and insects in the ground, her teammates shone like the moon among dark stars.

Aaron and Yang looked at their leader slightly confused. "Need something?" Aaron asked.

"No, I just found out I like nature a whole lot more now."

Yang cocked her head and looked even more confused. Aaron, however, smiled and nodded his head. "Stretch your mind out Yang," He called. "You'll see what she means."

Still keeping her mind open, Ruby looked around the clearing at her team. It looked like Yang was trying the same thing. Aaron still sat under his tree eyes closed. Weiss and Blake stood on the other side, checking their ammo and Dust reserves. All that combined with all the life Ruby felt around her made the clearing feel peaceful, despite what just happened.

 _BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_ Well, so much for peace. Ruby groaned. "And the beeping is back," she announced to the clearing. Yang suddenly stiffened up and closed her mind. Aaron did the same a few seconds later. Ruby looked at Yang. "Something wrong?"

Yang didn't answer right away. "Nothing, except for all the spiders in the ground here."

Ruby could tell her sister was lying without even being in her head. She was about to press the issue when _BEEP! BEEP! BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!_ She groaned even louder and covered her ears for a second, not that that helped. "And now it's a drone. Ugh! Why is this-"

Suddenly she felt energy being pulled into her wards against electricity. Ruby also heard a quiet electrical discharge, though it didn't end after a second. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise. Yang, though, widened her eyes to the farthest they could go and the color drained from her face. Aaron jumped to his feet and immediately drew Redemption. Before Ruby could ask them what was going on, her bionic arm sparked near where it met flesh.

Ruby grabbed her arm and screamed at the top of her lungs. She clenched her eyes and started falling to the side. Through the sheer amount of pain that came from her arm, she couldn't even tell if she hit the ground. It felt like her arm was being put through a blender, dumped in a volcano, coated with dry ice, and eaten by bugs all at the same time. She faintly heard someone saying something with voice and mind, but she didn't know who or what. All sounds and other sensations besides pain faded as she started to pass out from pain. She didn't even fight it.

* * *

Yang bolted forward to catch her sister before she hit the ground. She immediately rolled up Ruby's sleeve and opened the control panel on her fake arm. Unfortunately, none of them were labeled. Ruby stopped screaming but the tears still streamed down her face. "Ruby what button!?" Yang yelled with her voice and mind. "What button?!" Ruby went mostly limp in her arms. Panicking, Yang turned to where the dragons would most likely be coming from _Cerise, what-_

 _Bottom right red!_ Cerise yelled frantically. Yang turned back to Ruby and pressed the correct button. Ruby's body lost the rest of its tension, but she still didn't wake up.

Aaron finally reached the sisters' side and placed a hand on Ruby's neck. He closed his eyes and started chanting in the Ancient Language. Yang turned around to see Weiss and Blake running over as well. She put a finger over her mouth to tell the others to keep quiet. One small mistake in pronunciation and Aaron could accidentally kill Ruby.

"I found it," he whispered in English. Yang turned back to her sister, and still didn't see any life in her, besides the painfully slow movement of her chest. Aaron started another spell, and soon a slight bulge appeared in Ruby's neck. The bulge broke and something popped out, leaving a small trail of blood.

On pure reflex, Yang put a hand right over it. "Waíse heill." The small hole in her sister's neck sealed. "Please tell me there wasn't any more problems under there."

Aaron shook his head. "No, it was just below the surface." He held out a hand, and an inch long piece of…something sat in the palm of his hand. "This is what caused all the trouble."

A harsh roar flew into the clearing. Yang didn't need to turn her head to know Cerise was flying full speed toward Ruby. While Aaron jumped to get out of the way, Yang stayed right by her sister's side. She felt the ground tremble as the dragon hit the ground. A gust of air hit her in the back, as did a lot of dirt and grass. Soon after, she was enveloped in a dark red tent of scales and wing membrane.

Cerise stuck her head under her wing and whimpered. Yang locked eyes with the dragon for a second, then looked back down at her sister. She placed a hand on Ruby's forehead. "Vakna." Awaken.

Ruby's eyelids fluttered, then slowly opened. Her natural eye was red and started leaking again. The bionic eye though, was completely dilated. "Yang?" Ruby said weakly.

Yang gently covered Ruby's natural eye. "Can you see anything?"

"Not with you covering both my eyes." Ruby slowly raised her left arm and tried to remove Yang's hand.

"It's only one." Yang pulled her hand back. "There's something wrong with your other eye." Ruby blinked and rubbed the right side of her head.

Cerise hummed and nudged Ruby's head with her snout. _What happened?_

Ruby shook her head. "I don't know. The beeping turned into a drone, there was a drain on my wards, then…" she winced as she looked at her arm, control panel still open.

Yang couldn't keep the secret from Ruby anymore. "The Nevermores have been tracking you. They put something in you that can track escaped captives, and shock to kill them if necessary." Ruby's eyes widened and Cerise growled. That was the first time she was visibly angry at Yang.

 _Why didn't you tell us sooner?_ Cerise demanded.

Yang looked away from her sister and her dragon. "We didn't know for sure. Aaron was working on a spell that would find the tracker since Mountain Glenn. With how you were acting after the tunnels, we didn't want to give you something else to worry about."

Ruby slowly nodded, then her eyes widened even more. "Everyone else…"

"There was that too…" Yang locked eyes with her sister. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

 _I hate to break this up,_ Nalia interrupted, _but we've got company. Four Bullheads are flying in from the south._ Yang stiffened up and crawled out from under Cerise' wing. She looked south, but could only see clouds above the trees. Nalia had her neck fully extended to look above the canopy.

"How long do we have?" Yang asked.

 _Five minutes, most likely less._

Yang nodded and looked around the clearing. It was good against fighting Grimm, but they had no cover to use against people. Weiss, Blake and Aaron stood by Nalia, and Halcyon prowled next to Cerise.

Weiss finally looked at Yang. "How's Ruby?"

It took a few seconds for Yang to respond. "I don't know."

"I can't fight," Ruby called. Yang turned back and saw Ruby struggling to stand against Cerise. "My arm's useless, my eye's rebooting, and my leg's being sluggish." She rubbed the back of her head. "I've got a massive headache too."

Aaron grimaced. "And Bullheads are too fast to outfly." He shook his head. "Nalia, Cerise, you two have the best shot at stopping them. Get ready to take them on."

Cerise growled. _I am NOT leaving Ruby's side!_

Ruby put her good hand just below one of her dragon's eyes. "You have your Aura unlocked, and Nalia has experience. If Halcyon goes up there he'll be shredded. You have to go."

The red dragon hummed sadly and wrapped her neck around Ruby. Halcyon walked to look his sister in the eyes. _I'll watch after her. She won't be injured._

Cerise looked up and growled lightly. _You better bring her back in one piece._ She nuzzled Ruby one more time then took her place by Nalia. Ruby stood awkwardly on her own as Halcyon settled down beside her.

Aaron climbed onto Nalia's back. "The rest of you, start making your way back to Beacon. We'll join you when we take these things down." He patted Nalia on the neck, and she walked into the trees. Cerise looked back at Ruby one more time, then followed the green dragon.

Yang helped her little sister up into Halcyon's saddle. "I think now might be time to activate the distress signal," she said.

Ruby nodded and fumbled around for her scroll. Halcyon started walking as soon as she got it out. Yang stood right by her dragon's side, with Weiss and Blake on the opposite side. "Team RWBY to anyone who can hear," Ruby said into her scroll, "we are under attack by four Nevermore Bullheads, and we have injured. We need backup now." Yang looked up to see Ruby hit another button on her scroll. "That should be on repeat, and we'll know if anyone responds."

Two distant roars filtered through the trees, quickly followed by chain gun fire. Yang looked back and wished silently Cerise and the others luck. She faced back forward, ready to attack any Grimm that crossed their path. There was certainly enough negativity in the air to attract lots of them.

A voice came through Ruby's scroll. "Team RWBY, this is Atlas patrol Delta three-two-seven. We hear you. What's your situation?"

Ruby again fumbled for her scroll but was able to get a hold of it. "We're separated from two of our dragons. They're trying to take the Bullheads down."

Yang missed what the patrol said when Nalia forced her way into the blonde's head. _One of them got by us and is heading right toward you._

The brawler turned around and searched the sky through the trees. "Halcyon, run!" The dragon did as he was told and bolted through the trees. Yang held back and listened for the sound of engines. She fired a few shots from Ember Celica in the sound's direction, but the transport flew overhead with only a few scorch marks on its belly.

Dust rounds started spewing out of the front of the Bullhead. Yang's heart stopped and time moved at a slower pace. The stream of bullets missed Weiss and Blake by inches, leaving tiny craters in the ground where they hit. The puffs of dirt raced to catch up with Halcyon. The dragon saw this and flipped onto his side, with Ruby facing away from the stream. Bullets tore into and through Halcyon's exposed belly.

Both dragon and Rider screamed in pain. Yang fell to the ground, arms wrapped around herself. She rolled around on the ground for a few seconds in agony. A pair of hands pushed her shoulders to the ground. Yang opened her eyes she didn't know she closed to see Blake's very concerned face. "Where were you hit?" she asked.

Yang ignored her partner and turned her head to look at her dragon. Her eyes widened at the sight of several bleeding holes all over her bondmate's belly. "Halcyon!"

* * *

 **Finally got to the team attacks. I know I didn't get Weiss and Aaron's in, but I didn't want to force it. Also, back when I asked for attack names for Blake and Aaron, no one actually suggested Shadow Claw. Allard-Liao mentioned Blake's shadow clones, and my mind immediately went to Shadow Claw. Makes sense when you think about it. Also, Pokemon reference (ding!).**

 **Now if you excuse me, I need to go hide from Yang and a few Halcyon fans.**


	31. Goldilocks and the Velveteen Rabbit

**I am now home for the summer, and have a job starting up next week. I don't know at this time how it will affect my upload schedule. I do have a backlog that will last at least until June, so there's that.**

 **Now to either add to or relieve some reader's heart attacks after last week.**

* * *

Yang pushed Blake off her and sprinted to Halcyon's side. His belly was pierced in numerous places, and there were a few holes in his neck. "No, no, no, no, no, no!" Yang could heal surface wounds and broken bones, but There had to be things on the inside that were punctured that she couldn't do anything about. She turned back to where Aaron and Nalia were still fighting. "AARON!" she yelled with her voice and mind.

"Ruby! You okay?" Weiss asked, snapping Yang back to the present. She forgot her sister was in danger. She turned back to see Weiss picking Ruby off the ground.

"Get me to the other side. I can still do something." Ruby and Weiss limped around Halcyon. Ruby didn't look like she was injured, then her right side came into view. Her right arm was severed below the elbow and wires were sticking out everywhere. If Yang still had any color in her face, it quickly drained.

"It's coming back around," Blake announced, pointing her pistol in the Bullhead's general direction.

Yang faced the same direction and clenched her fists. She didn't even need to blink for her eyes to turn red. That son of a bitch nearly killed Ruby, and essentially eviscerated Halcyon. He was going to pay.

She fired Ember Celica at the ground below her and launched into the air. One more shot from both her gauntlets shot her above the tree line and the Bullhead. Target in sight, Yang fired her weapons one more time, and she flew toward the modified transport. She drew a fist back and slammed it forward into the cockpit. The glass broke and flew into the pilot's face. Yang drew her fist back again and slammed it into the controls for the Bullhead and fired a shot from the corresponding gauntlet.

Without any normal reason, Yang saw the right engine of the Bullhead shear off. She fired one more shot into the cockpit and jumped off the doomed transport. The Bullhead curved off to the side and crashed into the trees. Yang landed almost gracefully in a tree, then stalked her way over to the crash site.

It took her longer than expected to get to the crash site, but her anger didn't dissipate at all. Yang felt the minds of several of the criminals. Almost all of them were unconscious. The pilot was not. Yang stormed to the crash site and climbed up to the remains of the cockpit. She pulled the almost lifeless form of the pilot out and threw him onto the ground.

As Yang approached where the murderer landed, she felt a small drain on her Aura as someone swung a sword at her neck. She turned around and punched her would be assailant in the gut. He flew across the newly made clearing and ended up crashing against a tree.

The brawler turned back to the one who tried to kill her sister _and_ her dragon at the same time. That could not be allowed. While Halcyon couldn't breathe fire yet, Yang could do the next best thing.

Before she could open her mouth to speak though, something heavy hit her to the side and pinned her to the ground. Yang heard a low growl and saw green scales to either side of her head. "Nalia, let go of me!"

 _Not until you calm down,_ Nalia said, calmly yet sternly.

"This bastard shot Ruby and Halcyon! Wouldn't you do the same if someone tried to kill Aaron?"

 _Yes. Dragons are the ruthless ones, not the Riders._ Nalia growled again. _Aaron has read about what happens to criminals who kill and abuse children. Even among criminals, they are the lowest of the low. Justice will come to these men over time._ Some of Nalia's anger drained away. _You don't want this to be your first kill. Aaron shuts down when they're justified. This man is almost unconscious and can't fight. If I didn't stop you, this would haunt you for the rest of your life._

Yang was breathing hard, trying to calm herself down. After a while, the red haze in her vision faded. _Aaron's always said you need to control your anger. He's finishing up with Halcyon now. Your dragon wants you back._

The blonde's eyes grew wide. "Halcyon…" Nalia moved her paw off the Rider and Yang sprinted toward her dragon. How could she leave her dragon like that for so long when he was in so much pain? Ahead in the trees, she saw Aaron running in the other direction. Yang grabbed his arm as he passed. "How is he?"

Aaron hesitated. "I believe he'll make a full recovery." He freed his arm, then ran toward the crash site again. Yang ran the rest of the distance to her dragon, but something about Aaron's voice didn't seem right.

When Yang finally saw gold in the trees, she beelined straight for her dragon. As she approached, she slowed down. Halcyon was now laying on his back, and most of the holes in his belly were patched up. Ruby knelt by a few more that were still bleeding. She held a hand over one of the wounds and was mumbling words on the Ancient Language. Cerise had a wing draped over her brother. Weiss and Blake stood to either side of the dragons, staring into the surrounding forest.

Yang walked up to her sister and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Take five, Ruby. I've got the rest." Ruby slightly turned her head and nodded. She stood up and limped over to Cerise. She collapsed onto her dragon's neck, but that looked intentional. Yang knelt down in Ruby's former position and set to work on healing what she could see.

Halcyon finally stirred. _Aaron healed everything inside before he went to get you,_ he said. _You don't need to worry past the surface._ Yang sighed in relief and nodded. Hearing that from her dragon calmed her more than it coming from anyone else. Now that she knew that the worst damage was taken care of, she slowed down slightly and tried to calm her racing heart. It still took a while to seal the rest of the wounds, but Halcyon wasn't bleeding out that was always a positive.

As the last injury sealed, Yang threw herself at her dragon's neck and squeezed as tightly as she dared. "Ay, you. How you doing?"

Halcyon hummed and covered his Rider with a wing. _I'm doing better now that you're back._

Tears streaked down Yang's face. "I'm sorry I left you." She released her hold on her dragon and leaned back to look Halcyon in the eye.

The dragon's eyes were half lidded and showed exhaustion. _There is no stopping you when you have your mind set on something._ Some concern also shown through. _Yang, your hair._

"What about it?" Yang reached back and grabbed some of her hair, or tried to anyway. She flailed around for some of her golden locks and finally found it just above her shoulders. Her shoulders slumped, but focused back on her dragon. "Halcyon Brightscales, you were almost killed and you're worried about my hair? You need to get your priorities straight. Hair can grow back, you won't."

The dragon hummed and nuzzled his Rider. Yang hugged him back, then looked over at Ruby. Other than the missing arm, she didn't look injured. "You sacrificed yourself to save Ruby." Yang didn't know whether she should be grateful or horrified.

 _She's my sister as much as she is yours. I have to protect her._

Yang smiled, then hugged her dragon once more. "You're the best." She stood up and walked the small distance between her and Ruby. Weiss opened a few granola bar packets for Ruby and the young leader took them with her good hand. She stuffed two in her mouth at the same time. All that happened must have taken a lot out of her.

Yang sat down by her sister. She placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Any word on how far out Atlas is?"

Ruby swallowed her food, then looked up at Yang. "Any minute now." She paused. "You get that Bullhead?"

"Kind of. One of the engines fell off. Was that you or Aaron that did that?"

"That was me." Ruby's head fell. "I had to do something to help. Nearly passed out afterward though."

"You did fine. What happened to your arm?"

Ruby reached behind her and pulled out half of her bionic arm. "I guess I found out what can break this thing. I can't fix it here. It might actually be easier to start from scratch." She licked her lips. "Could you get me some water? It's in the left-middle saddlebag."

As Yang reached into the correct bag, she heard engines overhead. She froze up thinking that Nevermore reinforcements showed up. As the sound grew louder though, it didn't sound like a Bullhead, but like Atlas troop transports. Yang looked up and saw several of the ships in the sky. One of them hovered overhead while two others continued on.

Those on the ground made room for the transport, though Yang and Blake had to help Halcyon limp out of the way. The back hatch on the ship opened up before it touched down. Several soldiers stormed out and aimed their weapons at the forest. One of them looked at the red stained ground. "That's a lot of blood," he said. The soldier next to him hit him in the back of the head. Yang glared at the slack-jawed soldier. She didn't need any reminding of how close her dragon was to death.

"Team RWBY, it's nice to see you again." Yang turned her head back to the transport and saw another soldier standing on the ramp. "I do wish it was under more pleasant circumstances."

Ruby grabbed one of Yang's arms and pulled herself up. "You're one of the soldiers from the video."

The soldier smiled nodded. "I told you I'd help out if possible. I just wish it was against Grimm and not these scum." He turned serious. "You said you had wounded."

"That's me and Halcyon." Ruby raised the remains of her right arm. "I got this, and Halcyon lost a lot of blood."

Yang threw her sister's remaining arm over her shoulder. "Come on Ruby let's get you inside." The two sisters started walking. Yang turned her attention back to the soldier. "I take it the _Vytal_ is around since you're here?"

"Not exactly. General Ironwood ordered more soldiers to defend Vale after the breach. My squad was one of those. I can't give you the whereabouts of the _Vytal,_ for security reasons of course." Suddenly, the radio chirped to life inside the transport. Yang couldn't understand what was being said, but it sounded urgent.

 _We've got a problem!_ Aaron called.

The sister Riders looked in Aaron's general direction. _What's going on?_ Ruby asked.

 _The Nevermores have Velvet and Vert. We have to move. Now!_

Ruby and Yang locked eyes. Halcyon growled and Cerise roared. This wasn't good. The fact that Velvet was a Faunus made things worse. The things the Nevermores would do…

Yang looked back at the dragons. Cerise was pacing and fluttering her wings. Halcyon stayed laying on the ground, though his teeth were bared. Weiss stood with her arms held up, most likely trying to calm Cerise down. A few feet away from Weiss, Blake looked like she was ready to kill someone. Yang couldn't blame her partner. Blake was a Faunus and Yang seconds away from killing that pilot.

The blonde thought over the situation. Ruby couldn't fight and Halcyon could barely move his legs. Both dragons could only carry one person at a time when they were healthy, so Weiss and Blake would have to stay behind either way. Yang locked eyes with Cerise and saw the same thing she was thinking. She looked down at Ruby. "Switch for now?"

Ruby nodded. "Go get them back." Yang ran over to Cerise, who dropped to her belly. The blonde Rider jumped onto the red dragon's back. Two Atlas transports flew overhead with Nalia close behind. Cerise roared and jumped into the air, and took position at the rear of the small procession.

* * *

Aaron heard a dragon's roar behind him. He turned to face it and saw Cerise rising out of the trees. Instead of Ruby in the saddle though, Yang rode the red dragon. It made sense, with the other two being injured and exhausted. None of them had to be happy with the situation, but all of them had to want to help.

The green Rider turned back front and went over what he saw in the Bullhead again. One of the Nevermores had a scroll with targets on screen. All humans and Faunus on the list were wanted dead, and the dragons dead or alive. The words 'Queen's targets' sat above the list. Most pictures of the targets had the words 'mission in progress' written over them. Two didn't. The message over Vert said 'captured,' and Velvet's read 'termination in progress.'

That set Aaron over the edge. Too many Riders and dragons had died. Too many people he was responsible for were killed. Not anymore. Velvet and Vert would _not_ be another statistic.

Atlas was supposedly tracking the signal to another location. That was the only reason their two transports were in the lead. They were also not going their top speed to let the dragons keep up. Cerise had to fly faster than ever before to keep up, but from the look on her face, she was determined not to fall behind. Vert was the only dragon she could mate with after all.

Aaron focused back on Yang. _How are Halcyon and Ruby?_

It took Yang a few seconds to respond. _Halcyon's doing as well as can be expected after being shot like that. Ruby though is doing a lot better than I expected. She doesn't even seem to care that she lost an arm again. Maybe those counseling sessions are paying off._

 _My Gem is regaining her self-confidence,_ Cerise chipped in, not slowing down. _She'll never be the same as before, but she's not letting her experiences keep her down. The only reason she stayed behind is because she knows she can't fight in her state._

Aaron nodded and stretched his mind forward. There were plenty of Grimm in the forest below, but no people around. The Rider grimaced. They had to be getting close. Velvet's time remaining could be counted in minutes. They had to get to the newest Rider before that time ran out.

Then came the feeling Aaron was waiting for. Several humans were standing around a cloudy life force. _Found her!_

Nalia growled. _Hold on a little longer you two._ She flapped her wings harder and faster and passed the two Atlas transports. Aaron grabbed his modified V4 off his belt and expanded it to its rifle form.

 _Yang,_ Aaron called back again, _these Atlas soldiers have orders to kill. No matter what happens, only do so if the Nevermores are armed and able to fight._ He faced back forward and readied his weapon.

A large clearing in the forest appeared ahead. A Bullhead rested in the center, with five people standing over a human like form on the ground. One of them had something in his hand.

Aaron quickly took aim and fired. The armed man fell backward and dropped what he was holding. The others on the ground looked up and drew their own weapons. Aaron shot at the two on the right and Yang fired Ember Celica at the remaining two on the left. None of those four went down right away.

Nalia landed nearby and Aaron jumped out of the saddle. He returned his V4 back to its travel form and drew Redemption and his shield. Yang turned up by his side with her fists raised. The Nevermores charged and the two Riders ran to meet them.

Aaron blocked the swords from his opponents on his shield and pushed them back. They weren't that strong, and they clearly weren't that experienced since they attacked at the same place. The Rider sprung forward and slashed at one of the Nevermores. The criminal blocked the attack, but his sword was flung from his hand. Aaron finished that one off by hitting him in the face with Redemption's pommel. At least the criminal's Aura held enough so the strike didn't kill him like last time Aaron tried that trick.

The other Nevermore grunt that attacked Aaron reengaged. The Rider effortlessly caught the strike with Redemption. The criminal pulled back for another strike but Aaron beat him to it. He jabbed Redemption at and through the man's gut. Aaron withdrew his sword and the man fell to the ground. He looked up at Yang, who just finished taking out her two opponents. She looked over at Aaron, eyes red. Then she glanced at the bleeding man by Aaron's feet. Her eyes turned back to their normal lilac and Yang looked back at Aaron with distrust.

"Aren't you the one who told me not to do that?" she accused.

"You know the situations were different." Aaron looked down at his feet and grimaced. "That doesn't make it any better though." He looked around the clearing for any more hostiles. The Atlas transports landed and released soldiers from the back doors. There were no more conscious hostiles in the area.

Still, Aaron couldn't celebrate. There was only one clouded mind in the clearing. Where was Vert?

The Rider ran to Velvet and slid to a stop by the Faunus' side. His eyes widened at the brutality. _Both_ of Velvet's ears were cut off, and the stumps were still bleeding. There were multiple cuts on her face, and many more across her body. A massive slice on Velvet's left arm looked an awful lot like one of Ruby's. Pulverized burn Dust lay all over Velvet's body. There was very little difference between Ruby's former condition and Velvet's.

The worst part was that she was awake. Velvets hazy eyes slowly rolled to look at Aaron. "Aaarrr…" she got out.

Aaron turned back to Yang, who was also running to Velvet's side. "Find her ears!" Yang blinked, then changed her direction. Aaron returned his attention to Velvet. "Slytha." The Faunus closed her eyes and her head lolled to the side. The Dust was the first to go, then cut on her arm was sealed. Aaron then focused on Velvet's face. It wasn't long until she started to look normal again.

"I found her ears," Yang murmured. Aaron looked up and saw the blonde cradling two very bloody rabbit ears. He took only one of them and compared the cut lines to figure out which ear it was. Luckily, the Nevermores cut the ears very differently. It was no easy task to reattach anything, but an ear was much easier than a limb. It took longer than Aaron would have liked to reattach the ear. He reached out for the second one and Yang handed it over without a word. That one reattached much faster, but it still took too long.

When Aaron was about to move on to the rest of Velvet's injuries, he saw they were no longer there. He looked up to see Yang swaying slightly on her feet. "I did what I could from here. Did I miss anything?"

Aaron sighed. "No, you did fine. Any sign of Vert?"

Yang shook her head. "Not even a scale."

"You know why they would cover her with burn Dust?" Aaron looked at the pile of Dust off to Velvet's side.

The blonde turned her hands into fists. "My guess is that they were going to burn her alive. If I didn't hate the Nevermores more than the White Fang before, I do now. They made it personal."

Aaron turned back to Velvet and he rested a hand in Velvet's forehead. "Vakna." Velvet's eyelids slowly opened and the hazy orbs underneath looked around. One of her hands made its way up to the top of her head and her mouth dropped open. She looked like she wanted to say something, but nothing came out.

Velvet's eye suddenly widened. "Vrrrrrr…"

Yang spoke up before Aaron could open his mouth. "They have him." Velvet's eyes widened even more and tears started leaking from her eyes.

"We'll get him back. They messed with the wrong people." Aaron turned to Yang. "Give me a hand here?" Both full strength Riders grabbed one of Velvet's arms and carried her to one of the transports. The Faunus' legs dragged on the ground and she didn't make a sound. She didn't even sob.

A soldier waved the Riders into one of the transports. "We're not equipped for intense medical treatment," she said. "Beacon's the closest place that has the cure for King Taijitu venom."

"Then get her there as fast as you can," Aaron ordered as Yang and he strapped Velvet into a seat. "Don't wait for us." Both healthy Riders left the transport and it immediately took off.

Aaron then looked over to where other soldiers had the Nevermores tied up and under guard. He glared at them and started to walk over. _What are you going?_ Nalia asked.

 _You'll see. If I go too far, feel free to stop me._ Aaron marched through the line of soldiers and grabbed the man who looked like the Nevermores' pilot. The Rider pinned the man against his own Bullhead. He heard several Atlas soldiers aim their weapons at him, but Aaron ignored them.

"Now here's what you're going to do," Aaron growled. "You are going to tell Atlas everything you know about the Nevermores of your own free will, or I will forcefully take what I want to know, and you will spend the rest of your life thinking you're a teenage Faunus girl obsessed with the Achievemen. Understand?"

The pilot's eyes widened, then returned to normal. "You can't do that. I know my rights."

"You helped kidnap a dragon, which is not under any kingdom's jurisdiction. You attacked outside of the kingdoms, so none have any claim to this situation. Technically, you are a prisoner of the Dragon Riders, which means I can do anything I want to in order to get Vert back."

The pilot started sweating. "You're bluffing."

Aaron forced his way into the man's mind. _Hmm, who is Daisy? It would be a shame if you forgot about her._ The pilot's eyes widened in fear.

Nalia growled. _Aaron! That's enough!_

"Okay! I'll talk!" The pilot quivered in Aaron's grasp. "They took the dragon to our base in the mountains in between here and Vacuo. My boss doesn't plan on killing it. Its scales are too valuable for that."

Aaron dropped the pilot. "You will cooperate with Atlas, or I will be back." He turned back around and walked through the line of soldiers. Some of them still had their weapons roughly pointed in the Rider's direction. Yang stared at Aaron with an open mouth. Cerise just stared, her eyes and body language not giving away anything. Nalia though, was fuming.

 _I understand that we need to rescue Vert, but you came dangerously close to becoming what we hate._

 _You know I can't do that. I don't know how._

 _Still, tricks like that are what the traitor used to gain power. I don't like you using scare tactics._

 _Neither do I, but it was necessary._ Aaron slowed down as his adrenaline rush wound down. He looked at the pool of blood that formed after he killed another man. _Add another one to the tally…_

Nalia growled again, but this time held less anger. _If you so much as think about looking for another knife, I will pin you to the ground and not let you up for a week._

 _I might ask you to do that anyway when this is all done._ Aaron looked over at Yang as he climbed onto Nalia's back. _How can I tell her that Halcyon isn't okay?_

* * *

Ruby sat in the waiting room in Beacon's hospital wing. She had a tool kit, a large carton of strawberries, and a water jug sitting by a table beside her. She was already checked out by the doctors, and besides being slightly dehydrated and malnourished after extensive magic use in the forest, she was physically fine. Well, besides her bionic arm being shot in half.

The only reason Ruby was in the hospital instead of the Dragonhouse with Halcyon was the call from Yang saying Velvet was being taken in. Ruby immediately called Coco and explained the situation to her. Soon after, the remainder of team CFVY arrived at the hospital. Even though they tried to hide what they were feeling, their body language gave away their concern.

Velvet's transport arrived several minutes ago, and she was being looked over by doctors. Those in the waiting room were told to stay put, despite Coco's very vocal disapproval. Now, they were waiting for the okay to go and see her.

Ruby grabbed a set of wire cutters from her took kit and again proceeded to work on the destroyed arm. Since the training mission wasn't Atlas related, they couldn't do anything for the arm. The Rider would have turned them down anyway. She wanted a challenge, and she had a spare back in the Dragonhouse. The arm she had was fixable, but the fake skin was a total loss. There was a point where Ruby thought about donating the arm with skin to a civilian company who made bionics, then she remembered most of the technology wasn't her own. She couldn't in good conscience pass off another's work, especially since it might have a negative impact on Penny.

Coco turned to Ruby. "You know, you don't have to be here you know," she said calmly, no offense intended in her voice.

"Yes I do." Ruby looked up from her work. "I know what you're saying. You're her team and you need to be here. But Velvet's a Dragon Rider now. She's on my team too." She paused. "Plus, I'm the only one here that really knows what she went through."

The other team leader nodded, then turned to the biggest guy at Beacon. "Yatsu, how far out is Claret?"

Yatsuhashi leaned back in his chair. "I believe she should be here in five minutes. She was on the other side of Vale when I called."

Ruby returned her attention to the stump of a right arm. She did all she could to improve its condition without the use of power tools. The other part of her arm was in a similar condition. She set her detached arm into the tool kit and grabbed a couple of strawberries. They always tasted so much better when she was hungry.

A nurse walked into the waiting room. "Velvet's awake and ready to see you," she said, and motioned everyone in the room to follow her. The nurse led the way down a few halls and into a single patient room. Velvet was sitting up on her bed and staring out the window. She didn't even notice the small crowd that entered the room.

"Hey Velv," Coco said as she took off her sunglasses. "How you doing?"

Velvet barely turned her head to look at Coco. "They have Vert. How do you think I'm doing?" Ruby clearly heard animosity mixed in with loss.

Coco stiffened slightly. "We'll get him back. There is no way we aren't going after him."

"We have no idea where he is!" Velvet glared at Coco. "We have all of Remnant to search! How do we know he isn't dead?" She choked on her last words and looked back out the window.

Ruby was taken aback. She never saw Velvet raise her voice, or even get angry before then, even when in combat. "That's not entirely true," Ruby said. Everyone in the room looked at her, and there was a spark of hope in Velvet's eyes. "Yang said that Aaron got some information off one of the Nevermores that attacked you. Their main base is apparently somewhere in the mountains between here and Vacuo."

Velvet sat on her bed, her eyes hardened slightly. "Then what are we waiting for?" She moved to stand up, but Yatsuhashi put a massive hand on the Faunus' shoulder.

"You need to rest, Velvet."

"I'm fine! I _need_ to find my dragon!" Velvet tried to shrug her partner's hand off, but failed miserably.

"You aren't fine, Velv," Coco soothed. "Are you hearing yourself? You'll get yourself hurt again if you run out there now. Or worse."

"Vert's young, but he's strong," Ruby said. "He knows we'll be coming after him. He'll be there when we get there."

Velvet scowled. "Easy for you to say. You were never five-hundred feet from your dragon when they had you."

Yatsuhashi gasped. "Velvet!"

Ruby merely nodded sadly. "If you ever want to talk about what happened, you know where to find me." She turned to Coco. "My team will be ready when yours is." With that, she left Velvet's room, feeling that she was no longer wanted in there.

The Rider returned to the waiting room and picked up her things. She still wasn't sure how she managed to fit everything in the tool kit she had, but it worked. Ruby walked out of the hospital and headed toward the Dragonhouse. She was used to the stares from people again, but now they were staring at the stump of an arm instead of a full bionic one. Still, Ruby didn't care. There were far more important things to worry about.

Ruby quietly entered the Dragonhouse, expecting Halcyon to be asleep. Instead, he was staring at the doors, most likely waiting for Yang. He lowered his head and his wings drooped when Ruby entered. "Sorry to disappoint."

 _I'm not sure you can,_ Halcyon said, trying to keep his happy nature alive. _I just won't be able to sleep until Yang gets back._

"I know the feeling. Worried she'll attack someone because of her hair?"

 _More than that._ Halcyon didn't elaborate. Ruby shrugged and walked over to her workbench. She set her tool kit on top and popped another two strawberries into her mouth. After a long swig of water, she grabbed her arm out of the kit and set it on the table.

Ruby's hand froze a few inches away from a welder. She looked at drawer on the other side of the workbench. Inside, her prototype combat arm rested. While she did want to properly test it, that arm was the only one available now.

Her mind made up, Ruby rolled up what was left of her right sleeve. She twisted the remainder of her bionic arm and it popped off. The Rider then pulled open the drawer and picked up her newest creation. The new arm was anything but standard issue. Ruby used most of her funds from when she first took on the Nevermores to get the highest grade titanium alloy she could think of. It would take a lot more than one high caliber Dust round to break it. Strength wise, Ruby predicted she could bench a truck. Most of the limb was painted matte black, with red stripes on the inside and outside of the arm. It wasn't just an arm either. It had an extension to cover and strengthen her natural shoulder like an exoskeleton. A red rose covered the shoulder plate.

Unfortunately, due to the additional size, Ruby couldn't wear sleeves over it. Then again, her current right sleeve was messed up anyway. She grabbed the remaining fabric and ripped it off her shirt.

Ruby grabbed her new arm and fit it into position. It clicked in, and the Rider fit the shoulder extension into place. A new message appeared in her vision stating that new hardware was detected. That was a good sign. She tried moving her fingers, and luckily they cooperated flawlessly. Next she moved her arm in a circle to see if the shoulder plate was secured right. Seeing as that felt right, Ruby tested the thing she was most proud of. "Engage firing mode." Her hand straightened out and flipped into her arm, leaving the end of a gun barrel at the end of her arm. A targeting reticule appeared on the right side of her vision. Another message saying 'no ammo' rested in the bottom right corner. She moved her arm around, and the reticule moved with it. Ruby smirked. "It's also a gun."

Satisfied with how her new arm felt, Ruby brought her hand back out and walked toward the doors. Before she made it halfway though, Halcyon's head shot off the floor and he looked toward the door. Ruby stretched her mind to outside the building and felt Cerise outside. The main door opened and Yang bolted inside as soon as she could. She ran over to her dragon and wrapped her arms around Halcyon's neck. It was weird seeing Yang with shoulder length hair. It hadn't been that short for years. Yang probably wouldn't let it stay like that though.

Ruby felt the floor beneath her shake and she braced for impact. Cerise bowled her over yet again. The Rider hugged her dragon's neck and tried to put herself in Velvet's position. She knew what it felt like to be tortured and under the effects of King Taijitu Venom, but she had no idea what it would feel like to be separated from Cerise. Considering that Vert could be skinned alive…Ruby tightened her grip on her dragon.

 _I still need to breathe, Ruby,_ Cerise thought to her Rider.

"Sorry." Ruby crawled out from under her dragon and saw Aaron and Nalia standing nearby. His eyes widened slightly as he stared at Ruby's new arm.

"So that's what took you so long to finish my V4," Aaron said.

"Time well spent, apparently." Ruby looked between Aaron and Nalia, her face hardening. "You two ready to fly at a moment's notice?"

Nalia growled. _Those criminals will regret being born. No one takes a dragon and gets away with it._

"I stood apart when the traitor took over." Aaron crossed his arms. "I'm not going to leave Vert to the same fate as so many others."

Ruby nodded, and her face lost its tension. "Yang said you found a tracker in me. What are the odds that everyone else has them?"

Aaron's shoulders slumped. "I'm thinking very likely. I just came up with the spell last night and I was going to have Yang search you tonight. It's simple enough that even Velvet can do it. We'll just need to get in contact with everyone, somehow."

"I think Atlas knows where they all are," Yang said as she walked up. She turned to Ruby. "By the way, nice arm."

"Thanks." Ruby turned to look at Halcyon, who looked like he was finally falling asleep. "How quickly will Halcyon be up and running?"

Yang sighed. "If I have to guess, a day or two to fly, a week or more till he's back at full strength."

Ruby sighed. "We're going to be flying out as soon as Velvet's ready, whether that's today, tomorrow, or next week. We may have to leave you behind."

The older sister shrugged. "We'll catch up if it comes to that. The faster we get to Vert the better. The rest of the team know?"

"They will, and I'm sure they won't object."

Aaron nodded. "I just hope we don't get to him too late."

* * *

 **Yeah, all that happened. And yes, I do believe Velvet freaking out like that is very possible.**


	32. Battle Plans

**I swear, I am not this sadistic in real life. I honestly have no idea where this dark side of me is coming from. People that know me would not expect things like this from me. Don't hate me as a person, please!  
**

 **Anyway, I** _ **might**_ **be starting up a new story next week. I have an idea in my head that I want to get out. If I do, it will be uploaded on Monday or Wednesday. My new job has a lot of free time and is so unstructured that I can write while on the job. Score one for me!**

 **Now...Let's get down to business! To defeat…the Huns!... wait wrong series.**

* * *

The members of team RWBY rode the elevator up to Ozpin's office. If Yang had chosen to regrown her hair, the box would have been even more cramped. Team CFVY was already up there. Aaron had a feeling he knew what this meeting was about. The past two days, both teams read up on possible existing locations where the Nevermores could be hiding. There was one that stuck out, though everyone hoped it wasn't the actual base.

The doors opened and the team stepped into the large office. Velvet looked back at the newcomers. Her eyes were completely red and had bags underneath. Aaron suspected she hadn't slept in the two days since Vert went missing, not that he could blame her.

To Aaron's surprise, general Ironwood stood beside professor Ozpin. Even though the Rider expected the meeting to be about team RWBY and CFVY's unsanctioned mission, he didn't expect the general to be there.

Ruby stepped forward. "You wanted to see us Professor?" She quickly cast a glance at Ironwood.

Ozpin sat his mug down on his desk. "We know about your plan to take on the Nevermores. I can't say I'm thrilled about it. This is a mission I wouldn't send experienced huntsmen on without weeks of planning."

"As you know," Ironwood spoke up, "these criminals are well trained and have an astonishing amount of resources. They will not hesitate to kill. I already have teams working to take them down. You would be no match against a fortified position."

"With all due respect sirs," Coco started, "Vert is one of us. We have to go after him."

"It's not like we haven't done this before." Yang crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "We took out that base up north with no problem."

"But I lost men, and one of you was almost killed." Ironwood cast a quick glance at Ruby.

The red Rider tensed up for a second and fear filled her eyes and she grabbed her new arm. She clenched her eyes tightly, balled her fist, and scowled. "But they didn't. Now they have to deal with me when I know what I'm walking into."

"Please sirs," Velvet whispered. "You have to let us go. I need to get my dragon back."

Ironwood's eyes softened slightly. "We are working as hard as we can to find the location of the base. Unfortunately, we can't have close surveillance due to-"

Velvet interrupted the general by grabbing her right arm and screaming. She fell over into Yatsuhasi, who caught the Faunus and gently lowered her to the ground. The rest of her team and the Riders of RWBY gathered around the downed girl. Velvet convulsed on the ground screaming for several minutes and had to be held down by her team.

"That's how many times now?" Yang asked when Velvet fell silent.

"Five." Yatsuhashi gently lifted Velvet's head off the ground.

"What is going on here?" Ironwood demanded.

Aaron stood up and stared at his two superiors. Ozpin was now standing as well. "Riders can feel their dragon's pain, even across great distances. From experience back home and from what Ruby's told me, the Nevermores are skinning Vert alive." Both Ironwood and Ozpin's jaws dropped. "This is why we need to go. We _have_ to get Vert back as soon as possible, with or without assistance. You'd have to put an entire army on guard duty to keep us from heading out."

The two headmasters looked at each other and Ozpin nodded. "Well, if that's the case…"

"Oz, may I have the room?" Beacon's headmaster answered by picking up his mug and leaving the room.

Aaron turned back to Velvet, who was being helped off the ground by Ruby and Yatsuhasi. "How bad was it this time?"

The Faunus shook uncontrollably. "They didn't even bother taking his scales off this time. No warning." Velvet took a marker out of a pocket and drew a small square on her arm, joining another two visible ones on her other arm and one of her legs.

Ironwood cleared his throat. Everyone else in the room turned to look at him. "Since there's no way of keeping you all out of this, I might as well fill you in on what we have." He placed a scroll on Ozpin's desk and a hologram of the continent Vale and Vacuo shared. "As soon as the general location of the Nevermores' base reached my desk, several surveillance ships were dispatched to the area. Believe it or not, we have found their base of operations already."

Velvet gasped and stood up a little straighter. "Where?"

A red dot appeared on the map. Aaron grimaced at the location. _This isn't good._ The map zoomed in to a more detailed view of the area, then switched to a ground perspective. A large wall came out of a mountain, with towers sprouting out of the length at regular intervals. Behind the wall stood half of an old keep that was missing most of its right side.

"Fort Castle, thought abandoned since shortly after the Faunus war. The Nevermores have taken up residence inside. The fort has enough room to house thousands of soldiers, though I doubt there will be that many people there. It is in a CCT dead zone, so we wouldn't pick up any transmissions coming out of the area.

"Unfortunately, we know nothing other than the fact that the Nevermores are in the fort. We can't get close enough to figure out what kind of defenses have been brought back online, or how many new defenses they have. With General Lagune's lack of intelligence aside, there is a reason Fort Castle never fell. Even though the walls look ancient, they were reinforced several times before and during the war. There were many artillery weapons inside the walls of the mountain, and anti-aircraft guns behind the wall. If the fort was manned by a well-funded and experienced military, my forces would have a hard time sieging it."

"Lucky for us that the Nevermores are neither," Weiss said as she took a closer look at the map.

"Also, four of you have something none of my men have: infiltrating a Nevermore base."

"The one up north was a little different than this." Blake shook her head. "This is a new monster."

"Not necessarily." Aaron was spinning an idea round in his head. "One flaw of any defense is that you need to know you're under attack. If they don't know we're there, they can't defend themselves." Ironwood raised an eyebrow, but he didn't speak.

"How can we do that?" Ruby asked, confused.

Aaron cast a cautious glance at Ironwood. He still didn't know the full details of magic. The Rider fully turned to Ruby. "I have my ways." He faced Ironwood again. "I don't suppose you have the floor plan for this place, do you?"

Ironwood pushed something on his scroll, and the floor plan came into view. "This is the most recent plan we have. Unfortunately, recent is thirty years ago. There may be many changes to what it is now." Aaron nodded and looked at the layout. Fort Castle was definitely had a similar look to the castles he knew in Alagaësia, but on a much larger scale. The stables, or garages as they were called on Remnant, were built behind the keep, inside the mountain. That was most likely the place where Vert was being kept. A prison sat on the side opposite to the garages. To get to them though, teams would have to get past the guards, barracks, and armory. If the Nevermores had a separate control room like the base to the north, it would be near the top of the eight story keep.

"What's stopping us from making an all-out assault on the front gate?" Velvet asked desperately. "With Atlas' help, we should be able to take them."

"It's not that simple Velvet." Ruby turned to the Faunus. "Their chains can have an electric current run through them. Even if we managed to destroy the controls for that, guards could rush in and kill everyone themselves. We might win the battle, but lose who we're fighting for." Velvet's ears and head drooped.

Aaron focused back on the map. _Nalia, you have any other ideas about this place?_ he asked his dragon.

 _I'd consider taking this place for ourselves if it was still abandoned._ Nalia mused, then turned serious. _If they do have anti-aircraft weapons, I don't want to get close until they're down. When they are, I won't be able to hold back. I don't know how I did when we rescued Ruby and Cerise._

The Rider nodded slightly, then looked back at Ironwood. "Do you have a plan?"

"I planned on sending an infiltration team to the fort, and it looks like I may have some volunteers in this room." No one else countered the general's assumption. "The team would be in charge of securing the prisoners and the control center. From there, they should be able to deactivate any automated defenses. After both objectives are complete, the team will signal the _Vytal_ to engage the wall."

Yang stepped closer to the map. "This may be me thinking out loud, but what if we had another team attacking the front entrance while the infiltration squad is going about its business."

"A distraction," Blake mused, "that could be useful."

"It would have to be small," Weiss added, "and it would be better if they couldn't be traced back to Atlas quickly."

Ironwood brought a hand to his chin. "Bringing in extra huntsmen could complicate matters. We'd have to-"

"We'll do it," Coco interrupted. The room turned to her. "It makes sense. The team of the one they tried to kill out for revenge. Who's to say we never tagged Vert ourselves? We can cause a lot of damage and force the Nevermores to come out of their wall."

"Coco, I have to go inside," Velvet said weakly. "I have to get to Vert."

Coco put a hand on the Faunus' shoulder. "I never said you'd be with us."

"I've noticed another problem." Ruby crossed her arms. "If we're going at this covertly, how are we going to get there? We can't exactly fly up in Bullheads or on dragonback."

"Also, we can't fit everyone on the backs of our dragons," Aaron chipped in. "Nalia might be strong enough for that, but dragons are meant to have three people on their backs at most."

"Halcyon's grounded right now too. He's barely comfortable flying to the river for water." Yang looked out of Ozpins office toward the Dragonhouse.

Ironwood straightened out slightly. "I can have a forest Rover delivered south of Vale that should take you all the way to Fort Castle."

Ruby looked around the room. "We all in agreement here?" Everyone nodded and Yang cracked her knuckles. The young team leader turned to Ironwood. "How soon can this start?"

"How soon can you be ready?"

Ruby turned back to her team. "Get everything you absolutely _need_ for a three day trip. If you aren't packed in a half hour, too bad. The sooner we get to Fort Castle, the better." She walked past her team and to the elevator.

"What she said." Coco gestured over her shoulder toward Ruby. Soon after both teams walked to the elevator.

"Mr. Benson, a word please," Ironwood called. Ruby turned back to Aaron, her face contorted in confusion.

"It's nothing," Aaron said. "This shouldn't take long." Ruby hesitantly nodded and stepped into the elevator when it arrived. Eight people loaded into the tight box and disappeared when the doors closed. Aaron turned back to Ironwood. "I take it this is about the Black Queen?"

The general nodded. "If she really is paying the Nevermores for your heads, there is a chance she will be there. If that happens-"

"Take her in if possible or take her out. I've read about other operations like this, and most of them end up with the target dead."

Ironwood hesitated. "It's not that simple. If she is the person I think she is, the only way you'll be able to arrest her is if you inject her with King Taijitu venom. She…isn't a normal Huntress. She has additional abilities that are beyond any Huntsman or Huntress in any Kingdom."

Aaron crossed his arms. "Like what?"

Again, Ironwood hesitated. "Like magic."

The Rider froze in place. _Magic? Here?_

 _We knew it was possible since Ruby fought that woman a few floors below you,_ Nalia growled. _We've trained with elves. If it comes to a magician's duel, we will win just because our minds can't be breached._

 _There's a first time for everything._ All that took place over a few seconds, and Aaron tried to keep his face unchanged. "Magic. From what I've heard, magic is science that we don't understand yet."

"That may be true, I just don't have another way to describe it." Ironwood sighed. "The only reason I told you this is because Ozpin asked me to. I also know you have abilities beyond a Semblance, I don't know if they're related. No disrespect to the rest of your team, but I believe you have the best chance to take her down. Still, be cautious."

Aaron nodded slightly. "I'll keep that in mind." He shifted on his feet. "Have you figured out who took and leaked the pictures of us on the _Vytal?"_

Ironwood sighed. "There is one former crewmember on the _Vytal_ that is unaccounted for. He disappeared shortly before those pictures were aired on the news. I have a feeling that he was on the Nevermore's payroll the entire time."

Aaron scowled and made for the elevator and turned back to the general as he waited. "By the way, I believe you will get one of Nalia's scales and a few drops of her blood after this mission. I haven't forgotten."

* * *

Twenty-five minutes after leaving Ozpin's office, teams RWBY and CFVY stood outside the Dragonhouse. Ruby tightened the straps on Cerise' saddle slightly and checked her scroll for the Rover's location. Just as Ironwood said, it was a few miles south of the city. Ruby looked over to Coco. "You get the location?" The other team leader nodded. "Let's get moving then. Mount up!" Ruby jumped into Cerise' saddle and strapped her legs in. She put on her helmet and patted her dragon's neck, signaling she was ready.

Cerise looked back and nodded. Ruby looked at the other Riders and saw Aaron checking his V4 on Nalia's back and Yang rubbing Halcyon's neck. Yang probably didn't like leaving her dragon alone, but she also felt like she had to go on the mission.

The red dragon leaped into the air, Nalia followed right after. On the ground, team CFVY, Weiss, Blake, and Yang ran into the woods. As Ruby looked down, she managed to lock eyes with Velvet for a time. Even though she wasn't in the Faunus' head, Ruby knew Velvet was hurting at just the sight of others riding dragons. _Any ideas on how we can help, Cerise?_

Cerise hummed sadly. _Even though it's not the same at all, she could fly on one of us. Until she opens up about what happened, there's nothing else we can do._

Ruby sighed. She hated not being able to do anything to help. It was all up to Velvet. _Okay. I don't like it but I'll have to deal with it._ Ruby's thoughts went to a darker place. _I don't know if I'll be able to lead when we actually get there._

 _Why wouldn't you?_

 _I could freeze up again. I haven't really faced them since I was there. Remember what happened when I saw that guy on the news?_

 _My Gem, we'll see what we need to do when we get there._

 _But if I'm not up to the task, someone else will need to take over. That's not something I'll be able to do on the spot._

Cerise didn't answer for a few seconds. _The obvious choices are Weiss and Aaron. You've said Weiss was you unofficial second in command before I hatched. She knows what she's doing and she's a good fighter. Aaron led the team through the other base. He may not like it or acknowledge it, but he is a good leader._

 _The negatives,_ Ruby thought, _Weiss would give me an earful when we get back to Beacon. Aaron, well…_ she paused in her thoughts. _I don't see how people aren't going to be killed here. He's not going to take it well any way it goes._ Ruby felt a strange feeling come off her dragon. _What's wrong?_

 _Did Aaron tell you he killed a Nevermore while rescuing Velvet?_

Ruby turned back to face Aaron and Nalia. _No, he didn't. Please tell me it was justified._

 _Of course, but what he did afterward, I'm not sure if that was acceptable. Aaron pinned one of the criminals against a Bullhead and threatened to change his memories if he didn't cooperate._

' _Change his memories?'_

 _Aaron threatened to make the criminal think that he was a Faunus girl for the rest of his life._ Ruby lightly gasped under her helmet. Threatening to turn someone into something they hate had to be an effective way to get information out of them, but that was a tactic Ruby was not comfortable with.

 _He didn't threaten physical violence, did he?_

 _No, only the mental._ Ruby faced forward again and shook her head. She was not looking forward to that talk with Aaron. He was on her team, he was her responsibility, even though they were nowhere near each other at the time. That kind of threat may have been okay in Alagaesia, but not here.

Ruby looked down at the ground and saw a modified Bullhead unloading another vehicle from its cargo bay. Cerise touched down nearby and the other two dragons followed suit. It still took nearly a half hour for the rest to catch up. Coco claimed that they ran into some Grimm along the way, which was entirely possible. Ruby looked at Velvet, who looked slightly more alert than she was when starting out, but nowhere near where she should be.

Before Ruby could talk with the Faunus though, Aaron stepped up. "Hey Velvet, Nalia and I were thinking about something in the air. We know it's not the same, but we were wondering if you would fly with us for a bit."

Both Ruby and Velvet stared at Aaron. Ruby couldn't believe she was on the same wavelength as the more experienced Rider. Velvet ran a hand through her hair. "I don't know. Would Vert be angry with me after that?"

"I don't think so. The only thing I can see Vert being mad at is something happening to you before we get to Fort Castle. And no Rider deserves to watch others fly while they can't."

Velvet looked at the ground, and then her right hand. "Okay. Thanks Aaron."

"No problem." Aaron smiled. "Just hold on tight if we have to fight in the air." Velvet nodded and slowly walked over to the larger green dragon.

Ruby took her place by her sister's side. "You really should regrow your hair, sis." Ruby elbowed Yang.

The blonde shook her head. "Not until Vert's back in safe hands."

"I know what you're doing Yang, but you'll be fighting at less than half strength."

"Let's be honest here, the only ones from our team that are going in full strength are Weiss and Blake." Yang looked down at Ruby. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think that you'll be completely right in the mind when we go in."

"Cerise and I were talking about that on the way over." Ruby rubbed the back of her head. "How you doing without Halcyon?"

Yang shrugged. "He'll be fine. I asked JNPR to look after him while we're away. He'll have a better time back at Beacon than with us. Nora volunteered to takencare of Zwei too." She turned to look at the Atlas Rover. "Also, if Halcyon was here, I wouldn't get a turn on that turret." Ruby turned to the Rover as well and looked at the dual minigun turret on the top.

"I admit, that would be fun." Ruby watched the Bullhead fly off. She stiffened up and turned her mind back to serious mode. "Okay everyone, let's get moving. I want to get to the mountains by nightfall." She climbed onto Cerise' saddle and put her helmet back on. The red dragon climbed into the air. This time, Nalia took the lead of the dragons. Back on the ground, the Rover made its way through the trees. Yang poked out of the top of the vehicle and in the turret.

Ruby focused on Velvet's back. The Faunus had her arms wrapped around Aaron's waist. Whether that was from her inherent fear of heights, or her own comfort, Ruby could only guess. Nalia didn't fly any lower, and she didn't look back at her added Rider. She wasn't giving anything away.

Due to the Rover on the ground, the dragons couldn't fly as fast as they would have. What would have normally taken the dragons less than a day to fly to Fort Castle was predicted to take a day and a half. They were in it for the long haul. Ruby was ready, and would work through chafing legs if it happened.

A few hours into the flight, the dragons ran into their first real obstacle. Nalia growled in the lead. _We have actual Nevermores coming up. Be ready._ She turned her head back slightly. _Looks like you'll get your first bird, Cerise._

Ruby extended Crescent Rose and fit the back end into one of the new recoil boxes. _Time to test if these things work, Cerise._

Cerise huffed. _Don't shoot my head off._ Ruby smirked under her helmet and aimed at the black shapes flying to meet them.

 _If you need any help,_ Yang called from the ground, _I'm pretty sure this thing can shred those monsters._

 _I might let you take one of these anyway._ Ruby lined up a shot with the lead bird. Cerise stiffened her neck and straightened out her wings. The Rider fired, and her scythe shot back perfectly into the metal catch. She fired several times more as Cerise glided toward the incoming Grimm. Luckily these birds weren't as big as the one from initiation. The first Nevermore fell out of the sky after five shots.

Then the dragons and flying Grimm met in the air. Nalia almost literally ran through one of them and tore it off her chest. She then ripped the much smaller Nevermore in half. Cerise, on the other hand, collided with one that was a similar size to her. The dragon's forward momentum dropped to nothing, and Ruby almost fell onto one of Cerise' neck spikes. The Nevermore's head made it around the dragon's neck and tried to bite Ruby. Instead, she let go of Crescent Rose with her right hand and grabbed the Grimm's beak. She twisted her hand and tore the beak off. The creature screamed, then Ruby stabbed its eye with its own beak. The Nevermore fell to the ground, lifeless. Ruby looked at her hand and smirked. That was a new way to kill Grimm. The last of the Grimm started to fly off, but it was quickly obliterated by minigun fire from the ground.

 _Well that was easy,_ Aaron thought to the group.

 _I'm taking this as a good omen._ Ruby looked down at the ground. _Nice aim down there sis._

Yang sent her excitement to those in the air. _I like this thing. Maybe I should mount these on Halcyon's saddle someday._

 _Cerise might get some first_.

Nalia lightly growled. _We should keep moving. You can celebrate later._ She turned back to the southwest and continued flying. Cerise fell into position behind the larger dragon. The rest of the flight was fairly uneventful. A pack of Griffons attacked the dragons, but most of them were killed at range. Their wings were easy pickings for Crescent Rose. On the ground, the Rover had similar luck. While the attacks on them were more frequent, Yang's dual miniguns and Coco's single were able to decimate even the largest Grimm. Yang even bragged about taking down an Arachnii nest at range.

The southern mountain range came into view just as the sun was setting. On the ground, the Rover sped up slightly and angled toward the mountains. Nalia and Aaron flew ahead to scout out a place they could spend the night. It was good timing too. Cerise' wings were starting to get tired.

As the last light of day disappeared, the Rover climbed up the mountain where Nalia found a cave. Cerise set down just outside. Velvet slid off Nalia's back and walked around to look the larger green dragon in the eyes. She whispered something that Ruby didn't catch. The red Rider smiled, then hooked her helmet onto her saddle. She jumped off Cerise back then patted her dragon's neck. _We're more than halfway there._

Cerise nodded. _We should have the fort in sight by midday tomorrow. Vert will be back with us soon after._

The Rover finally made it up into the cave and Yang jumped out of the turret without waiting for the vehicle to stop. "How was flight?" she called.

"Calm wind, barely a cloud in the sky, and only a few Grimm caused us any problems. How'd it go on the ground?"

"Except for a few Arachnii that got a little too close, it wasn't too difficult. Apparently the Rover can run through groups of Beowolves without a problem, and that turret can take out fully grown Deathstalkers. No wonder Coco has a minigun."

Ruby nodded, then looked past her sister. The rest of team CFVY left the Rover, along with Weiss and Blake. Coco patted Yatsuhashi on the back. "Nice driving back there. Didn't know you had in in you."

Ruby walked over to the other team leader. "We'll camp out here for the night and head out early tomorrow morning. Your team ready for when we get there tomorrow?"

Coco nodded. "We're ready." She frowned and lowered her sunglasses slightly. "Don't take this the wrong way, but are you?"

"I guess I'll find out when we get there."

* * *

 _Ruby wake up,_ Cerise told her Rider.

Instead of doing as her dragon ordered though, Ruby just rolled over. _I was first watch, it can't be morning yet._

 _That's not the problem. Velvet is._

 _Velvet?_ Ruby opened her eyes and Cerise retracted her wing. The Rider stood up and looked around the cave they were camped out in. She had to rely on the night vision her bionic eye provided to see anything in the dark cave. Aaron and Coco were on watch at the cave opening. Yang was sleeping just a few feet away from Cerise. Almost everyone else was spread haphazardly across the floor.

Ruby then looked toward the back of the cave. Velvet was curled up on her bedroll, shaking every few seconds. Hesitantly, Ruby stretched her mind out to the Faunus. The other mind recoiled. Velvet was awake, and she was not doing well. Ruby slowly walked toward her friend. This was going to be her talk with Aaron all over again. "Can't sleep?"

Velvet looked up at Ruby through teary eyes. "I haven't been able to the past few days."

The red Rider sat down next to her friend. "What part is it? The nightmares or Vert?"

Velvet blinked her eyes a few times and sat up where she was. "How'd you know about the nightmares?"

"I still have them." Ruby shivered. "That poison may dull senses, but not memories."

"How have you stayed yourself after all that?"

Ruby shook her head. "I haven't. I completely broke down when we ran into the White Fang at Mountain Glen. Claret probably told you about the dog ear already. When I look at my dog normally, it's no big deal, but the second my heart rate raises a little, I freeze up when I look at his ears." She turned to look at Velvet. "It physically hurts to talk about it, I know. Still, it saves even more pain in the long run. Don't shut out your team."

Velvet brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them. "That still leaves Vert. I can't believe what's being done to him."

"Hey," Ruby placed her natural hand on Velvet's shoulder, "you'll be back by his side tomorrow. You'll be able to watch Amity Colosseum fly into Vale together." She tightened her grip. "We _will_ get him back."

"…Thanks Ruby." Velvet was laying back down on her bedroll when Cerise lightly hummed toward the back of the cave. Both Riders in the back looked at the red Dragon.

 _I know I'm not Vert, but…_ Cerise raised one of her wings, _we need you at full strength tomorrow._

Velvet blinked in the darkness, then looked up at Ruby as if to ask permission. The red Rider just shrugged. "She offered. It's up to you." The Faunus stood up and picked up her bedroll. She slowly walked over to Cerise' raised wing. Velvet laid her temporary bed down on the ground right next to the dragon's belly. Cerise lowered her wing, sealing the tired girl in for the night.

 _I didn't think she'd take it,_ Cerise thought to Ruby. _She must really need this type of companionship._

Ruby walked over to her dragon's other wing. _I didn't think so either. It's different between us, Yang, and Halcyon. Why did she take it?_

A different feeling rolled of Cerise. _Vert admires me. Possibly a little more than that._ The Rider locked eyes with her dragon before she was sealed in her own wing tent. Ruby smirked then elbowed her dragon's side.

 _Don't let your instincts take you too far._ Ruby laid down on her bedroll and closed her eyes. _Goodnight Cerise._

 _Goodnight my Gem._

* * *

 **I'll leave it here for this week. Some of you might have already figured out what's happening next.**


	33. Second Battle of Fort Castle

**To those of you who follow me, you may have noticed that I uploaded a new story yesterday. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, it's called RWBY MIA. It's not a crossover, so don't look for it there. Also while uploading that, I noticed that there is a Hurt/Comfort genre supported on the site. Given what I've done to all the characters, especially Ruby, I felt like it was necessary to add that here.**

 **Also, I have to say thank you to Allard-Liao for pointing out a lore error. For whatever reason at the time I wrote this I thought the Great War and the Faunus War were the same thing. It wasn't a major change, just from an eighty year of Fort Castle abandonment to a thirty year one. The rest stays the same.**

 **Looks like its bird season.**

* * *

Aaron and Weiss lay on their stomachs as they observed Fort Castle from over a mile away from the top of a hill. They finally made it, but it wouldn't be a good idea to attack until nightfall. Ruby was with the other two at first, but she made her way back to camp without an excuse. Being that close to those who kidnapped her probably set her on edge.

Weiss took her eyes out of her binoculars and wrote down some more notes. "Are you sure you'll be able to get us in there?" she asked Aaron.

"I spent a few hours in Vale with no one knowing I was there my first day in town." He turned to Weiss. "We'll be completely invisible. Unless they have some high tech tracking equipment, the Nevermores won't know we're there until they're being taken down."

The heiress nodded hesitantly. "I still don't like that we'll be walking into that place and team CFVY being out here. I don't like the look of those turrets. You know how many people are in there?"

Aaron looked toward the fort. "At least a hundred that I can count. This place does go into the mountain, and there may be even more behind all the rock." He grimaced. "The guards were told to expect us. I can't locate their commander."

"Do you know where Vert is? Or any other prisoners?"

"Those I'm almost positive are too far into the mountain for me to find. Considering Velvet hasn't gone mad, Vert's still alive."

Weiss nodded and turned back to look at Fort Castle. "We should head back. We need a plan." The teammates crawled back down the hill until they could stand up without their heads poking out over the top. They ran back into the tree line to reunite with their team. So far, no patrols came out as far as their camp. Even so, they were all ready to move at a moment's notice.

The two teammates made it to the small clearing that was barely big enough for the dragons to touch down. Ruby and Yang sat by Cerise, while everyone else was in the Rover with Blake manning the turret. Ruby looked up at the new arrivals. "You guys get what you were looking for."

Aaron nodded. "I believe I have a plan on how to get us is."

"They have a lot of added defenses along the wall, and snipers in the two towers. I need to get this information to the _Vytal."_ Weiss walked over to the Rover, passing Velvet along the way. Aaron looked at the Faunus Rider and saw a new black box on her right cheek. He clenched a fist. This needed to end soon.

"So how are we getting Vert back?" There was an edge to Velvet's quiet voice.

Aaron looked over at Blake and called her over. The cat Faunus jumped out of the turret and approached the rest of the infiltration team. "I'm going to give the Nevermores the benefit of the doubt and say they were smart enough to put security cameras throughout the base after we took out their other one. We can't just get around like we did last time. Like I told Weiss, I can make us entirely invisible. I just don't know if that spell can fool more advanced cameras."

"Invisible to just the Nevermores, or everyone?" Blake asked.

"Unfortunately everyone. We'll have to stay in each other's heads the whole time. While we're in the base, we only communicate with thoughts. We can stay in contact with each other that way, unless the amount of rock inside is too much.

"Once we get to the wall, Ruby, Yang, and I will lift ourselves to the top of the wall. If that part of the wall is clear, we'll lift the others up the same way. From there we'll get on with the mission." Aaron looked to the team leader. "So what's the plan from there?"

Ruby froze for a second. "Oh…uhhh…umm…" she sighed. "I'm not the best one to ask right now. I can act, I just can't think right now. I'm fighting myself to stay in control." Cerise hummed and nudged her Rider. Something unheard passed between them. Ruby looked back up at Aaron. "You have the most experience with castles. How do we take one?"

This time, Aaron froze up. He thought something like that was coming, but he still didn't like being in charge of a plan that could get people under his command killed. One way or the other, people were going to die. Aaron just hoped it would only be Nevermores that passed into the void.

"In that case, I should probably wait for Weiss." Aaron turned around to see the heiress walking back toward the dragons. She stopped right between Blake and Aaron. "We have three objectives going in. One: freeing Vert. Two: secure any Faunus prisoners. Three: take the command center and deactivate and automated defenses. I hate to spread us so thin, but that's three teams of two. Velvet and I will go after Vert, Ruby and Blake will head for the prison, and Weiss and Yang will take the command center." Weiss shifted uneasily on her feet, but she didn't say anything. "Weiss, you'll have to contact the _Vytal_ from there."

Weiss nodded. "I can do that."

"When do we head out?" Yang crossed her arms.

"To give team CFVY the best chance, we move at night. For now, take it easy, take a nap, just don't psyche yourselves out."

* * *

Several hours later, team RWBY plus Velvet lay on the hill Aaron and Weiss scouted on earlier. The only light in the area came from the moon, and a few spotlights from Fort Castle. Aaron looked from side to side at his teammates, and only saw looks of determination in the faint light. He turned back to team the other three members of team CFVY. _When I give the signal, begin your attack._

Aaron faced back toward the fort and started chanting in the Ancient Language. Almost a minute later, the infiltration team vanished from sight. _I'm going to warn you now, walking or running while invisible is incredibly disorienting. We'll wait at the wall, but after that, it's going to be dangerous to stay in one place, even while invisible. Let's move._ Aaron stood up and ran forward. Even though he couldn't see his team, he felt most of the team's minds quickly pass him. Only Yang was behind him.

The infiltration team reached the wall. They all pressed up alongside it. Aaron caught his breath, then took a few steps away from the wall. He looked up and whispered, "Adur." Aaron quickly rose to the top of the wall, with Ruby and Yang close behind him using a similar spell. When they reached the top, Aaron cut the flow of energy and landed gently on top of the wall. He looked around himself on the wall and didn't see any guards close enough to be a problem. The Rider looked back over the wall and latched onto Velvet's mind. _You ready?_

Velvet took a few seconds to respond. _As I'll ever be._ Aaron repeated the spell from before and lifted the rabbit Faunus to the top of the wall. It took her twice as long to reach the top of wall as Aaron, but that was only because Velvet wasn't good with heights. Eventually, she touched down on the wall, and Aaron immediately felt Velvet's increased concern. _I think I found him._

 _Okay then, lead the way._ Aaron turned back in the vague direction of the rest of his team. _Ruby, Yang, stay in mental contact with each other and me. Good luck._ He ran to follow Velvet, who had already sprinted along the wall.

Once the whole infiltration team made it inside the mountain, Aaron contacted Coco. _Light 'em up._ Not five seconds later, he heard minigun fire behind him. Soon after, alarms rang in the fort. People ran toward the outer wall, causing Aaron and Velvet to press up against the wall to let them pass. After several groups passed, they were able to find some stairs and make it to the ground floor.

Instead of that area being empty of guards, however, there were several. Aaron gently brushed against one of their minds and found out their orders. He didn't like what he found. _Everyone, be on guard. They're expecting infiltrators._ Aaron and Velvet slowly made their way around the guards.

One of them raised a hand to his ear, then froze in place. He grabbed his gun and aimed it up and down the hallway. "I know you're here!" he yelled. "Show yourselves!"

Aaron grimaced and looked up and down the hall for what gave them away. His eyes settled on a single security camera in the center of the hall. It was pointing straight at Velvet and him. He focused back on the guards in the hall. "Slytha." Both of them fell to the ground asleep. _We've been spotted! Their cameras can see us. Everyone speed up._

Both Aaron and Velvet ran down the hall, still invisible. Ahead, two guards blocked the way raised their rifles. They fired down the hall randomly. Aaron tried to dodge the Dust rounds and succeeded for the most part. Unfortunately, he was hit by a few of the projectiles. He looked ahead and put those two guards to sleep as well.

Aaron looked down at himself and saw that the Dust didn't disappear with his previous spell. He looked up and saw a few more spots of Dust floating in the air. "Freytha Letta." Aaron turned visible, and so did Velvet. "No use draining our energy if they know where we are." Velvet hesitantly nodded as Aaron drew his modified V4.

"We're close, and-" Velvet snapped around and her eyes widened. "Vert!" She sprinted off faster than Aaron ever saw anyone on Remnant run besides Ruby using her Semblance. Aaron tried to keep up, but the faster Faunus kept increasing the gap. A group of guards ran at Velvet. She jumped at the lead criminal and kicked him back into his group. As she was recovering from the attack, Aaron fired into the crowd trying to get them off balance. He kept the trigger down as he ran, and several Nevermores fell. The gun clicked, but he didn't have time to switch to Redemption. He used the bayonet on his V4 to jab at the criminals, who didn't have the time or space to draw any melee weapons. Velvet rejoined the fight and the group of guards fell.

Velvet once again sprinted down the hall with Aaron right on her heels. She turned into a room and disappeared. "VERT!"

Aaron turned into the room and saw a single Nevermore about to bring a sword down on Vert's neck. The Rider raised his right hand at the criminal. Before he opened his mouth to cast a spell though, he felt a drain on his Aura. A translucent green wall appeared between the sword and dragon's neck. The criminal swung the sword down as the barrier was forming. Instead of breaking through, it bounced off and nearly hit its wielder.

Still shocked from what he just did, he barely noticed Velvet run forward and attack the Nevermore. If it wasn't for the rabbit ears, Aaron could have sworn he was watching Ruby fight. She was using a blue scythe that looked extremely like Crescent Rose, and Velvet used many of the same movements. After one massive swing, the criminal flew against one of the rock walls and slumped to the floor.

Velvet panted in place and the blue scythe disappeared. She then turned around and stood looking at her injured dragon. Aaron finally really looked at Vert. To say he was in bad shape was an understatement. Aaron counted seven bloody patches of white cloth across the dragon's body. A large square was cut out of Vert's wing. A muzzle was fit over his mouth, and it didn't look like it gave much room for the dragon to eat. All his limbs were chained to the ground and large rocks were placed on his wings. His eyes were wide open, but had the same haze Ruby and Velvet had.

Aaron clenched his fists. It took him everything he had not to go over to the Nevermore and kill him. That would be perfectly acceptable anywhere as a casualty of war, especially back in Alagaësia. Still, the man was unconscious, and despite what evil he was about to commit, Aaron wouldn't forgive himself for killing a defenseless man.

As Aaron walked over to Vert to begin healing, the dragon, he contacted Ruby and Yang. _Vert's secure. How're the rest of you doing?_

* * *

Ruby and Blake ran along the top of the wall toward the mountain. While Ruby was doing her best to remain calm, she was fighting herself for each step. She was willingly running toward those who kidnapped her. What was worse, her target was the prison. It made sense in a way. She had experience in dealing with the situation and would probably know what to say to anyone in there. Blake was a Faunus, and the prisoners would most likely take to her more easily. Still, Cerise had to be fully in Ruby's mind as she ran. The Rider couldn't trust herself. She already passed a few of the guards, and she almost ran away.

If there was one thing that kept Ruby going, it was the fact she couldn't let others suffer the way she did any longer. She knew a few of them had to be from the kidnappings after the breach, and possibly from before. If Velvet's reactions were any indication, these criminals weren't any better than the ones from before. The Nevermores had to be stopped. That night was their last night outside of prison.

A little after Ruby and Blake entered the mountain, she heard minigun fire back toward the wall. Team CFVY must have engaged. Alarms blared and several groups of guards ran by. The two teammates hid in an unused room while they waited for the Nevermores to pass. After the footsteps calmed down, Ruby looked out in the hall, not trusting to use her mind. When she saw no one in the hall, she looked back to where she felt Blake's mind, not that she could see her. _Stay close._ She noticed her thoughts were not as confident as she would have liked.

 _You sure you don't want me to take the lead?_ Blake asked.

 _Do you know where we need to go?_ Ruby snapped unintentionally. She took a few seconds to cool down. _Maybe you're right._

 _I memorized the map. As long as the layout hasn't changed too much, I should be able to get us there._

 _Alright, lead on._ Ruby felt Blake pass her, then followed her teammate.

 _Everyone, be on guard. They're expecting infiltrators._ Aaron called. Blake and Ruby slowed down slightly and looked around. Ruby wished she could use Crescent Rose, but the cramped hallway prevented that. She had to use her close-quarters-combat training from Aaron and Yang. This would be the first real test for her new arm. It was fully loaded and the strength cranked all the way up. Whatever happened, she wasn't going down without a fight.

A few guards came around a corner wearing gas masks. One of them threw some type of grenade and it landed behind Ruby. She covered her eyes and ears in case it was some type of flashbang. Instead of that though, a hissing sound came out of it and a colored smoke filled the hall. Ruby didn't see the purpose of giving an opponent cover, until she saw Blake through the smoke.

The guards opened fire on the teammates as both rushed forward. Ruby threw a right hook at one of the guards and he flew down the hall and hit a wall on the far end. Blake simply slashed her opponent until he fell to the ground unconscious.

Aaron once again touched Ruby's mind. _We've been spotted! Their cameras can see us. Everyone speed up._

"Well that explains why they knew where we were," Ruby said out loud. "Freytha Letta." Blake and Ruby both became visible in the hall.

"We're close," Blake stated. "We have to keep moving." She turned and ran down the hall. As the teammates ran further into the base, Ruby felt Cerise' mind growing fainter, and not from distance. There was too much rock in between the two of them. Ruby's confidence began to fail. She was deep in hostile territory without the one she trusted most. There wasn't anything wrong with Blake, but she wasn't her soulmate.

Trying to get her mind off the Nevermores, Ruby stretched her mind out forward to find the prison. She was glad she did and wished she didn't at the same time. "They're being electrocuted!" The teammates ran even faster and Ruby activated her Semblance. She couldn't let them suffer like that.

As soon as Ruby entered the prison room, she extended Crescent Rose to its full length. She ran as quickly as she could around the room cutting all the chains that held the Faunus to the wall. Unfortunately, no major parts of Crescent Rose were rubber. Ruby felt her wards against electricity drain, then fail. After that, she felt electricity with every cut, but she couldn't stop. When the last arm chain was cut, she moved onto the leg ones. Those were harder, as there was no room between the floor and the chains like there was for the arms. As the last chain was cut, Ruby fell to the ground, twitching.

Ruby faintly heard Blake enter the room. The Rider pushed herself off the floor and Blake helped her sit up. "You okay?" the Faunus asked.

"Don't worry about me." Ruby brushed Blake off. "Worry about…" Ruby stopped as she looked across the room. Her eyes widened and her heart nearly stopped. One of the now freed Faunus wasn't moving at all. Everyone else was moving, even a little bit. Ruby didn't even see the boy's chest moving. She stretched out her mind to the other, and felt his consciousness, no, his life force fading.

Ruby crawled over to the boy because she couldn't walk. "No, no, no…" As she got closer, she saw the boy's injuries. They were bad, but they weren't life threatening. He had to be in that state because of the electrocution. Ruby was panicking. Ever since the breach, Aaron focused on magic training on healing. He hadn't gotten to any heart conditions though.

The Rider looked at her hands. CPR was taught early on at Signal, and there was always a mandatory course to take every year at Beacon to make sure everyone stays fresh. The problem was Ruby's bionic arm. It was meant for combat and had too much strength for what was needed. She could very easily break the boy's ribs, or worse.

Before Ruby could call Blake over for the procedure, she felt a flash of pure joy from the boy in front of her…and then nothing.

Ruby couldn't breathe. She was in someone else's mind when they died. She _felt_ it. _No…_ After all that, he died after being cut from his chains. Ruby didn't even know his name.

Once more, Aaron called out to Ruby. _Vert's secure. How're the rest of you doing?_

… _We found the Faunus and they're out of their chains._ That's all Ruby said. She couldn't say anymore. She failed.

"Is Moss going to be okay?" a small voice asked. Ruby looked up and took a sharp breath in from who she saw. It was the young lion Faunus from the last place. Apparently the Nevermores had a tracker in her, and brought her back in at some point. Unlike before though, she didn't have any ears on the top of her head. One of the stumps was caked over with dried blood.

Ruby looked down at the boy's body and saw several similarities between him and the girl. "Are you his sister?" she asked. The Faunus girl nodded. Ruby felt a knot form in her chest and tears streamed down her face. "I-I'm sorry. There's nothing I could do." The girl's shoulders slumped and she started crying herself. She ran over to Ruby and threw her arms around her rescuer. Surprised, Ruby held the little girl, giving both of them some level of comfort.

"I hate to interrupt," Blake called from across the room, "but we're about to have company."

Ruby tensed up slightly and pulled away from the girl she still didn't know the name of. "I know it's hard, but I'm going to have to ask you to stand over by Blake. More of those bad people are coming here and I need to take care of them." The girl nodded and wiped her eyes. She moved out of Ruby's sight.

The Rider stood up and looked over at her teammate. For once, she had her bow off in front of other people, showing her cat ears to the world. Every other Faunus in the room hid behind Blake. Ruby focused on them and spoke in the calmest and kindest voice she could, given the situation. "You all might want to close your eyes and cover your ears. I'm going to have to hurt the bad guys." All of the younger kids did as told, and the older ones put themselves between the door and the rest. Ruby and Blake locked eyes and nodded.

Ruby felt the minds of six Nevermores just on the other side of the concrete wall. Her depressed and fearful state fled and was replaced by rage. She swore to never let someone die under her watch again, and that failed. These criminals hurt more people than before, and captured a dragon. They had to pay. The only other time when Ruby was that angry was when she found Cerise surrounded by Beowolves.

The Rider walked over to the concrete wall, drawing a confused look from Blake. Ruby drew her right arm back, then drove it into and through the wall. She wrapped it around one of the Nevermores on the other side and pulled. After a few seconds, the wall gave and the criminal flew into the room. He was still alive and awake, but he was disoriented. Ruby solved one of those problems by slamming her left fist into the criminal's face.

With one down for the count, Ruby stepped through the new doorway and faced her opponents. The five remaining Nevermores fired at the Rider, but her Aura held. She lifted her left hand at the group. "Jierda!" As expected, their weapons shattered. In addition to that, however, beams of red light shot out of each of her finger tips. The light hit the criminals and they flew back down the hallway and into another concrete wall. Well, that word meant 'hit' too, so the added effect made sense.

Dealing with a slight energy drain, Ruby turned around to face a group that was coming down the other way. "Engage firing mode." Her right hand flipped into her arm and the .50 caliber gun came online. As soon as the first Nevermore ran around the corner, Ruby fired at the man's chest. He stumbled back into another of the criminals, and Ruby fired again. Each shot had a lot of recoil. The angle of her arm compared to the rest of her body determined if she would go flying or stay in place. In this case, Ruby stayed rooted to the ground as she blasted every member of a large group of Nevermores.

As Ruby fired the last Dust round in her arm, she ejected the current magazine and loaded a fresh one. She waited a few seconds for more opponents to rush her, but no more came. All hostiles were lying unconscious in piles at either end of the hallway. Ruby breathed heavily as she calmed down from the quick fight. As the seconds ticked on, she realized how exhausted she was. That bit of magic from before must have taken much more out of her than she thought. Her legs grew weak underneath her and fell toward a wall.

Before she hit though, Blake hooked her arms through Ruby's. "Nice work out here," the Faunus said. Ruby looked up at Blake's concerned face. "Were you hit? You're freezing." Ruby narrowed her eyes in confusion, then ran her left hand over her body for signs of injury.

"I'm not feeling anything." Ruby looked at her right arm. "Disengage firing mode." Her hand once again took its place on the end of her arm. Blake set her teammate down against the wall. Ruby looked up at Blake. "Where's your bow?"

"Someone needed it more than me." Blake gestured to another Faunus in the room. The deer Faunus had the black bow tied around her right arm. "There are more important things right now than my secret."

Ruby nodded, then a few distant explosions rocked the room. Atlas must have engaged, which meant Yang and Weiss succeeded, Ruby then looked at the other Faunus in the room. She knew she had to help heal their injuries, but it could take a while. She would do all she could before Atlas came to get them out, or she passed out.

* * *

Yang knocked the lights out of yet another Nevermore. Ever since Aaron said that he'd been spotted, Yang and Weiss went loud, trying to draw attention away from the other two groups. They were climbing though the keep, trying to make it to the command center. Early on, Yang pulled that information out of one of the guards before she gently put him to sleep. There wasn't a floor that the teammates crossed that they didn't run into at least one hostile.

Just as Yang and Weiss reached the floor the command center was on, Aaron called in. _Vert's secure. How're the rest of you doing?_

… _We found the Faunus and they're out of their chains,_ Ruby responded. Yang paused at how depressed her sister felt. She shook her head to clear it. It had to be bringing up memories of Ruby's own imprisonment.

 _We're just outside of the command center,_ Yang told the green Rider. _We'll be in there in a few seconds._ She pulled back into her own mind then looked at Weiss. The heiress raised Myrtenaster and nodded. Yang looked back at the door and punched it as hard as she could. The heavy metal blast door dented, but didn't budge. Yang repeated the punches with alternate hands with Weiss covering her. Eventually, just the impact alone charged up Yang's semblance, making the door cave in.

With one last heavy punch, the door gave way, leaving a gap big enough for the two infiltrators. Yang dove in and fired Ember Celica at a few guards in the room. They fell quickly, some of them against computer consoles. One of the larger men in the room leveled a heavy machine gun at Yang, but Weiss jumped over the brawler and attacked the large man. He couldn't keep up with the heiress' speed, and fell to the ground.

One man stepped out of a back room, wielding a large mace. "So, the daughters of Rose finally show up to take us down."

Yang glared at the man. She blinked and the familiar red haze returned. "What did you say?" she growled. "What do you know?"

He snarled. "More than you, rat." He raised his mace and a shotgun shell fired from the end. Yang and Weiss dove out of the way. The former sprang back up to her feet and fired some of her own shells at the man. He was not able to get out of the way and took four blasts head on. He fell to the floor and dropped his mace. "This is why I don't go out into the field…"

Yang stalked over to the man and lifted him off the ground. "What do you know about Summer Rose?"

"She was a thorn in my side until she died like a dog thirteen years ago." He drew a pistol from his belt, stuck it under Yang's chin and fired. Luckily her Aura held, but she released the criminal and stumbled backward. Enraged by the clear attempt to kill her, Yang leapt at the man and delivered several powerful punches, firing Ember Celica at the same time.

Yang threw one last right hook at the Nevermore's head and she heard a sharp crack. The man flew into a wall and slumped to the floor. He didn't move for several seconds. "What? You had enough?" Yang taunted. Still, the man didn't move. A few seconds after that outburst, Yang saw a trail of blood on the floor leading from the criminal's head.

The red haze disappeared but Yang stood in place. That man clearly had an Aura, and even Weiss's would have held under that weakened onslaught. There shouldn't be any blood. Yang hesitantly sent her mind out to the man in front of her. She kept reaching when she didn't find anything. Eventually, she felt other minds lower in the building.

"What's going…?" Yang murmured, then she realized what happened. She didn't feel the man in front of her because he was dead.

Yang took a few steps back from what she'd done. Yeah, she almost killed two other people in the past few months, but she never actually _did_ it. She never thought past the act and how it would affect her. But that guy was a criminal! She shouldn't feel like that.

Luckily, Weiss brought her mind off the situation. "How's it going over there?" she called.

"…Fine. You call Atlas, I'll tell Aaron." Yang looked away from the corpse and focused on the back of a chair in the room. _Aaron, the control center's secure._

 _Good. Has Weiss contacted the_ Vytal _yet?_

 _She's working on it._ Yang paused, but maintained the connection. _Their leader is dead._

Aaron's surprise leaked through the link and it was quickly replaced by sympathy. _You put him in that condition._ The statement wasn't accusatory in the least.

Yang sighed. _Why do I feel like this? He was a terrible person. He knew something about Ruby's mom..._

 _I'd be worried if you didn't feel anything. This is not something to take lightly. I'd talk more, but I need to keep working on Vert._ Aaron pulled away and left Yang alone in her head again. Halcyon wasn't there to talk to, and Ruby, well, she apparently had her own problems to deal with. That left Weiss, and she wasn't exactly the counseling type.

Speaking of Weiss, she stared intently at one of the consoles on the command center. "Cockroach to Big Bird, the house is infested. Repeat, the house is infested." Both teammates shook their heads at the code phrase Ruby came up with before she shut down at their camp. Weiss then looked over at Yang. "What happened to the other guy?" Yang didn't answer and looked at her feet. Weiss walked over to her teammate's side, then gasped.

"Yeah, that happened." Yang didn't need to look up what Weiss saw. "Can't say I'm sorry for him, can't say I meant to do that either." A few more alarms blared in the room, and several explosions followed a few seconds later. Yang finally looked at Weiss. "They know not to blow us up, right?"

Weiss was still staring at the body. "Th-they should. This is the place we decided on beforehand." She took her eyes off the corpse and looked at the room the man came out of. "You know what's back there?"

Yang looked at the door herself. "Records I'm guessing. Should probably make sure there's no one else back there though." The teammates walked toward the door, taking a roundabout route to avoid the corpse. Since the door was still half open, Yang threw her shoulder at it and entered the room. She didn't expect anyone in there, and wasn't disappointed.

The room looked like a record room mixed with an office. Several filing cabinets lined the walls presumably with their 'trade deals.' A desk rested near the back of the room with a computer on top.

Yang's eyes froze on what she thought was a trophy that hung on the back wall. Her shoulders slumped and her mouth hung open. Weiss put a hand on her teammate's shoulder. "Yang, what's wrong?"

The blonde ignored her partner. "What's that doing here?"

* * *

 **Yep. Another cliffhanger. No, I don't like killing characters we all like…Destroying their mental states though, I'm fine with. I'm not sure which is worse.**

 **Also, I don't care what any news station, TV show, or book says, the only people who don't feel anything when they kill someone are Special Forces, veterans of a thousand battles, and/or psychopaths.**


	34. Season's End

**Now for the aftermath.**

* * *

Ruby lay against one of the walls in the prison. For the better part of the hour after she took down the groups of Nevermores, she healed as many of the former prisoners' injuries as she could. With Cerise in the courtyard of Fort Castle, she was able to lend her Rider a steady stream of energy to help with the healing. Still, Ruby was forced to stop when she almost passed out ten minutes ago. All of the worst visible injuries were dealt with, and most of the cuts were sealed. Strangely though, she felt the temperature drop in the room over the hour. The Faunus didn't seem to mind. Apparently the room was normally over ninety degrees constantly.

The bad part was that Ruby couldn't check if any of them had trackers, or where they were. At least Hazel, the lion Faunus girl, did. Ruby's eyes again drifted to the cloth that covered Moss on the other side of the room. She still couldn't believe that she was too late. If she was a little faster, if she wasn't so terrified going in, the boy might still be alive. What's worse, his little sister was in the room as well. Hazel had gone between Blake and Ruby either latching onto their arms or legs, whichever was in reach.

Atlas soldiers arrived shortly after the explosions started. From what Ruby remembered, they had similar orders as the ones from the previous base. This time they left a medic behind though to help patch up the Faunus. The younger kids hid behind Blake at first, unwilling to go to the medic for one reason or another. Blake had to do a lot of convincing to make them get help.

Eventually though, another soldier entered the prison. "We have cleared the fort. I have a squad ready nearby to escort you all out of here."

Ruby pressed her hands up against the wall to help her stand up the wall to help her stand up. "Are you positive that there isn't anyone else still running around.

The soldier looked at Ruby with intensity, then his shoulders relaxed slightly. "There will be no surprises this time around. We need to move. The captain wants all civilians out of here in fifteen minutes." He turned around and walked out of the room.

Blake walked over to Ruby's side. "Need help walking out of here?"

"Maybe? Let's get down the hall before I know for sure." Ruby looked at all the former prisoners. "We can go now. You should all be back in Vale before sunrise." There were a few sighs of relief from the Faunus, and a few of them started sobbing again. Ruby cast one more glance at Moss, then walked out of the prison, a train of kids following her.

Luckily, the mess Ruby made in the hallway was cleaned up. There were a few chips in the concrete walls and floors, but otherwise there were no signs of battle. The Rider contacted Cerise out in the courtyard. _We're on our way out._

Cerise mentally hummed. _Atlas has soldiers all around the courtyard. There won't be a repeat of last time._

 _You okay?_

 _My Aura deflected all of the Dust rounds they sent my way. Nalia wasn't so lucky. She took quite a few rounds, but she kept on fighting. She's resting and being treated by Atlas medics now._

Ruby sighed in relief. _I take it Vert's not out there yet?_

 _Not yet._ Cerise whimpered slightly. _His mind is much like yours was. I hoped I'd never have to feel that haze again…But he's alive, and Aaron, Velvet, and a few soldiers are bringing him out right now._

 _You hear anything from Yang? She isn't talking to me._

 _Your sister is being very quiet. I haven't heard anything from her since before you all left the camp._

… _Okay. I'll see you in a few minutes._ Yang was not being herself. Ruby figured her sister would have been in direct contact with her since Atlas attacked. With how protective Yang got after the first Nevermore base, there was no way she wouldn't at least check in with Ruby every few minutes. Something must have happened up in the command center.

Ruby followed an Atlas soldier out of the building and into the night air. Instead of it being pitch black though, several Atlas vehicles lit up the area. A group of Paladins stood just inside the destroyed main door to the fort. Most of team CFVY stood by the familiar Rover at another point in the courtyard. Nalia was sprawled out near the wall and surrounded by Atlas personnel. Cerise stood near the large dragon, and her eyes immediately bored into Ruby's. It took everything both of them had not to run at each other.

Instead, Ruby walked away from her group and toward her dragon. She calmly wrapped her arms around her dragon's neck and squeezed as herd as she could. Once that happened, she let all of her emotions from the past few hours pour off her. Her whole body shook uncontrollably. She still couldn't believe that she went back into a Nevermore base, even if it was to tear it apart. Then there was the boy dying right in front of her. Ruby squeezed slightly harder.

Cerise hummed and brought her wing down and around her Rider. _My Gem, you did everything you could in there. I see nothing you could have done better._

 _I was too late. I didn't know what to do._ Ruby sobbed quietly, now leaning into her dragon's chest.

 _I believe it was you who said that there are times where you can make no mistakes and still lose._

 _But I did make mistakes! I-_

 _Ruby, that's enough,_ Cerise ordered. She pulled back and looked her Rider in the eyes. The dragon's eyes were intense, but they still showed their concern. _I won't have you feeling sorry for yourself over things you can't control. You have done something many others haven't. You ran into your nightmare and came out on top. Yang's told me about soldiers with your condition. Soldiers that have your mental state are no longer allowed to be in the military. Those that aren't identified to have it beforehand are more likely to break down in battle._ Her eyes softened and she lowered her head. _You may not feel like it, but you are the strongest person I know. Yang comes the closest, but you are leagues ahead of her._

Ruby stood there for a second, looking into Cerise' eyes and piecing together what her dragon just said. After a few seconds, the Rider smiled and place her natural hand on her dragon's snout. _Thank you._ Her confidence faltered for a second though. _I'm still not going to want to leave your side for a while._

 _I believe they'll still let me in the hanger on the_ Vytal. _I'll be close._ A light rumble rolled through the courtyard. Cerise snapped her head over to look at it and she lifted her sagging wings off the ground. _Vert!_ She jumped over Ruby and shook the ground when she landed.

Ruby turned around to see the smaller green dragon limping out of a large garage door. Velvet stood by Vert's head, scratching behind one of his ears. Aaron and several other Atlas soldiers stood on either side of the dragon, helping him forward. Half of them moved away from Vert as Cerise approached at a relatively high speed. The red dragon took up position beside the green and took over the role as a crutch. Ruby watched as the two dragons appeared to have a mental communication, even if it was one sided. Sometime after it started, Vert turned his head to look at Velvet. The Faunus nodded, then Vert raised his head and Nuzzled Cerise.

"Oh," Ruby breathed. "That was unexpected."

"Well, they are alive," Blake said, causing Ruby to jump. She never saw her teammate approach. Blake looked at her team leader. "It's not like Cerise didn't do anything to help Velvet either. He could just be saying thanks."

"His mind _is_ clouded." Ruby scratched the back of her head, then yawned. "It's been a long day."

"We've only been here for an hour and a half, at most."

"Yeah, but I'm usually in bed like three or four hours ago, and I'm sure someone on the _Vytal_ will want to talk to us before we go to bed."

"You have a point there." Blake turned her head to the keep. "There they are."

Ruby looked at the building as well, and saw Yang and Weiss walking out of the building, escorted by a few soldiers. Yang was cradling something in her arms, but from that distance Ruby couldn't tell what it was. Also, Yang's mind was still shielded. The younger sister approached the older, and the thing Yang held became more defined. Ruby slowed down as she looked at a very familiar sword in its sheath. "Yang," Ruby whispered when she was close enough, "please tell me that's not what I think it is."

Yang's eyes were red, but not in their usual way. "I can't, Ruby." She moved a hand on the sheath and Ruby gasped. Her symbol was on the sheath. The problem was, Ruby never made a white sword. She took the sheath from Yang and drew the sword.

"Sun's Light…" Ruby's arms shook. "Wh-what's mom's sword doing here?" Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cerise' head turn to look at her.

"I wish I knew." Yang looked away from Ruby. "I found it in a room right next to the command center. It was hung like a... _trophy."_ She shook her head. "I really hope I'm wrong about why it's there."

Ruby's eyes widened slightly, then took a closer look at her mom's sword. For the most part the blade was clean, if a bit dusty. Closer to the hilt and the pivot point of the blade, on the other hand, Ruby saw old dried blood. She looked around the hilt for the switch to turn the weapon to a sniper and flipped it. The blade spun around and the point locked into the cross-guard. A small but powerful scope popped out of the cross-guard. The process was louder and slower than it should have been, revealing that the mechanism that caused the shift was 'gunked up' in some way.

"Dad never said what mom did for her last mission, did he?" Ruby asked Yang, though her eyes never left the weapon.

"No. I never thought to ask." Yang put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Are you going to be okay, Ruby?"

The younger sister shook her head as she sheathed the sword. "First I run into a place I never wanted to go again, then I watched someone die, and now this?"

"You what?" Yang brought Ruby into a tight hug, with the latter holding her mom's sword off to the side. "What happened?"

"The chains were electrified before I got to the room. I was too slow." Ruby wrapped her hands around Yang's back, still holding the sword. "Everything in that room…it was so much like before."

"Don't think about that. Don't think at all." Yang paused for a second. "Just look behind you." Ruby did as told and saw all the Faunus kids being loaded onto one of Atlas' transports. "We did that. All those kids are going home."

"But Hazel was here again."

"Hazel?" Yang asked confused.

"The lion Faunus girl from before." Yang stiffened and searched the crowd. "We need to get the trackers out of them soon."

"It's not like they can be used anymore. Weiss said the controls for that were smashed in our fight in the command center."

"I'm sorry to break this up," a voice called from behind Ruby, "but your team needs to be on the next bird out of here." Ruby turned around to see a soldier in officer's armor pointing at a transport coming in for a landing.

The team leader nodded, then walked over to Cerise, who was watching soldiers strapping Vert to the back another transport. Ruby grabbed one of the saddlebags and removed her weapon cleaning supplies.

Cerise turned to face her Rider. _Do you think your mother could have-_

 _Please don't say it,_ Ruby interrupted. _I don't want to think about it._

 _You know where to find me._ Cerise nuzzled her Rider, then turned her attention back to Vert. Ruby looked in the same direction and saw Velvet standing by her dragon's head. Coco walked over to her teammate and placed a hand on Velvet's shoulder. They exchanged a few words, and the newest Rider nodded. She hugged Vert's snout, then walked with Coco away from the dragon.

Ruby walked over to where her team stood outside a transport. They were talking amongst themselves, though it wasn't one of their normal animated conversations. After the day's events, that was expected. Blake turned to Ruby as she approached. "Are you sure that's you mom's sword?"

The girl nodded slowly, then looked at the sword she was still holding. "I just don't know why its here."

"Someone on the ship might be able to put together a timeline," Weiss suggested. "There might be a paper trail…somehow."

"I'm just hoping dad doesn't shut down again after he finds out about this." Yang shook her head. "This might just be too much."

"We should probably get on this thing." Aaron gestured to the transport. "I don't want to spend any more time here than necessary." There were nods of agreement in the group and they walked up the ramp of the transport. Shortly after they took their seats, the entirety of team CFVY joined them. For the first time in several days, Velvet wasn't completely tensed up. She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes once she sat down.

"How's Vert?" Ruby asked as the ramp of the transport closed.

"Better than he was a few hours ago." Velvet opened her eyes and looked at the other Riders in the transport. "He can't talk right now, but he can listen and understand. Apparently he liked that Cerise offered me a wing last night. Physically, he can't walk without help, even after Aaron healed all the holes in his skin." She turned to the aforementioned guy. "Again, thank you so much for stopping that sword."

Aaron rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm still not sure how I did that."

"What happened?" Ruby looked between Aaron and Velvet.

"I stuck my hand out to cast a spell, but a green wall appeared between Vert and a Nevermore. The guy's sword bounced off the wall, then Velvet took him down."

Ruby sat up a little straighter. "I take it there was some sort of energy drain?"

"It drained from my Aura, not me."

There was a moment of silence in the enclosed space until Blake broke it. "Sounds like you found your Semblance."

"Is your team fast with everything?" Coco asked, looking over her sunglasses at Ruby.

The red Rider fought the urge to run a hand over an ear. "We try. By the way, how'd you do outside?"

"It turns out most of those guns we saw outside were either just for show or inoperable. They had nothing that could get through the Rover's armor. Still, they had a lot of small arms firing on us. Yatsu had to take my place in the turret a few times so my Aura wouldn't be completely depleted. Fox stayed behind with the Atlas ambush force in case the Nevermores sent anyone after us."

Ruby nodded and looked at her sister. "Why'd you go radio silent in there? I figured you'd be checking in on me every five minutes."

Yang shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "I found mom's sword. I wasn't thinking straight." Her voice lacked her usual confidence.

"Yang, what happened up there?" Now all eyes were turned to the blonde.

"I…" Yang looked at her lap, "I killed someone up there." For several seconds the only sound in the transport was the sound of engines. There weren't even any stunned gasps.

"What?" Ruby eventually managed to whisper.

"It happened so fast," Yang continued. "The first thing he did was say that the daughters of Rose finally came to take him down." Ruby did gasp that time, and looked at the sword in her lap. "We exchanged a few blows, then he said that Summer died like a dog…" Yang clenched her eyes and shook her head.

"This wasn't in revenge was it?" Aaron asked calmly.

"His Aura should have held. I wouldn't have knocked Weiss' out by that point." Yang balled her fists. "He was a monster. Why do I feel like this?"

"The first is the worst, but taking a life is never easy." Aaron's voice turned soothing. "Sometimes it's the only way to end a situation."

"You did say he put a gun under your chin, Yang," Weiss added.

"What?!" Ruby shouted. Weiss winced, most likely regretting her word choice.

"My Aura held…" Yang glared at Weiss, then looked away from Ruby, but the damage was already done. Ruby felt all the heat leave her body and her grip on her mom's sword loosened ever so slightly. Apparently the heat left the cabin as well, for most of team CFVY wrapped their arms around themselves and shivered.

"Who turned on the AC that much?" Coco growled.

Yang finally turned back to Ruby. "I'm alright. All of us are alright and…almost everyone's going home. We did everything we could do. That's what matters here."

"Yeah, but…" Ruby looked at her lap, then Cerise forced her way into her Rider's mind.

 _What did I just say on the ground?_ Cerise' voice was soothing, yet almost scolding. Ruby sighed and nodded.

"You were saying something Ruby?" Blake asked.

"I thought better of it." The transport gently shook and the back door started to lower. Those inside the main cabin stood up and waited for the ramp to lower. Ruby saw a few soldiers come into view. Two wore standard combat armor, one the uniform or a high ranking officer. Judging by the pins on his chest, he was the first officer. The two soldiers that stood by his side saluted those on the transport.

Ruby stepped off the transport and walked over to the man. "Ruby Rose," he began. "It's an honor to officially meet you." The other two soldiers lowered their arms.

"I don't know what I've done." Ruby shook the commander's outstretched hand. "The first time I was kind of…not all there, and this time it was a complete team effort."

"I'm sure you've been told that you've done more than you think plenty of times before, so I won't go into it." The commander looked at the rest of the people coming off the transport. "If you would all follow me." He turned on a heel and started walking away. Ruby followed closely behind. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cerise escort the transport carrying Vert into the hanger. Ruby sighed in relief. Everyone she went out with came back physically in one piece.

The two teams followed the commander through several hallways. No one really said anything, and Ruby occasionally glanced down at the sword she still held. She couldn't get all the questions out of her head, and nobody around her would have the answers. Maybe when whoever finished whatever questioning, Ruby could get some answers.

The commander opened a door to a conference room. "Some of you may find this place familiar," he told the group.

"The rut in the floor Weiss made still there?" Yang asked, most likely to lighten the mood.

To Ruby's surprise, the commander smirked. "It was filled shortly afterward by the tears of the Nevermores we had here." That got a chuckle out of a few people. Under normal circumstances, it would have gotten a lot more, especially from Yang. Ruby stepped inside and took a seat at the large table. She placed Sun's Light on the table in front of her.

"Can't say I ever wanted to be in this room again," Weiss mumbled.

"At least this time it's under better circumstances." Blake sat down across from Ruby.

"How long did it take for someone to talk with your guys last time?" Coco asked no one in particular.

"Way too long." Yang sighed. "I'm still upset with them about that."

"If that's the case…" Ruby unsheathed her mom's sword and started looking it over with a more critical eye. There wasn't much cleaning she could do without taking the weapon apart. Still, she had to do something while waiting for someone to come in. If she could avoid thinking about what could have happened, she'd take it.

"Vert?" Velvet said suddenly.

Ruby looked up from her work to look at the Faunus. "Everything alright?"

Velvet slowly nodded. "He's starting to talk again." Her shoulders lowered, their tension released. Ruby smiled, then returned to cleaning.

After what felt like an hour later, the door to the conference room opened. Ruby sheathed her mom's sword and held it on her lap. The woman that entered the room sat down and laid a few folders down on the table. Ruby lost track of how long the debriefing went, and the only think keeping her awake was the weapon on her lap. The woman pretty much asked everyone to explain in detail what happened and why they did it. If that was how all debriefings worked, Ruby was glad she didn't have to work with the military on a daily basis.

As the questions were winding down, the woman turned to Ruby. "I saw you had a sword when I came in, and I know you fight with a scythe. If that is from Fort Castle, I'm going to need that for evidence."

Ruby stiffened up and cradled Sun's Light in her arms. "With all due respect ma'am, unless you're ordering me to hand it over, this sword is staying with me." There was a slight venom to her voice that was completely unintentional.

The woman looked like she was about to protest, then she raised a hand to her ear. "Yes?...No I am finished in here…" There was a much longer pause and her face didn't change. "Yes sir." She looked at the group in front of her. "I'm going to have to ask that Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long stay in this room. The rest of you will follow me to where you will be staying the remainder of your time aboard the _Vytal."_ She stood up and opened the door, leaving no room for argument.

Ruby and Yang looked at each other as the rest of their friends filed past them. The look on the older sister's face said she had no idea what was going on. Ruby looked down at the sword in her arms. She had a bad feeling about this. Her mind jumped to something more immediate. "Hopefully they let Aaron get the trackers out of everyone." Ruby rubbed the spot on her neck where Yang said Aaron took it out.

"If it's anything like last time, they'll be running him until he passes out." Yang sighed. "I don't need to guess what you're thinking about, do I?"

Ruby shook her head. "Just the two of us, you found mom's sword in that place, what else could this be about?" They didn't have to wait long for an answer. The door opened again and the first officer stepped in.

"Commander Bradford," Yang greeted. "What's this about?"

Bradford sighed. "I wish I had better news for you girls. You two have the right to know." He placed a manila folder in front of Ruby, who opened it slowly. Her eyes widened at the pictures inside.

Yang looked over her sister's shoulder and drew a sharp breath in. "What? Where did you get these?" All the pictures looked like normal family photos from many, many years ago. Ruby being tickle attacked by Yang and Summer, Ruby caught with her hand in a cookie jar, Ruby and Yang asleep on their parents' laps, if it happened a lot in their childhood, it was there. The problem was all of them were taken from _outside_ their house.

"They were in a room just off the command center, in a file marked 'Rose.' That is only a small sample of what was in there. Your mother was a thorn in the side of the Nevermores for years. She apparently cost them millions." Bradford paused. "There was also a video of the last five minutes of your mother's life."

Ruby couldn't breathe. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. The Nevermores had pictures of her as a kid, her mom's sword, and video documentation of her mom's death? The Rider was surprised her eyes didn't start leaking then and there. Still, there was a part of her that wanted to know what exactly happened to her mom. "Can we see the video?

Bradford raised an eyebrow while Yang put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Ruby, are you sure you want to do this?"

"I have to know, Yang. We haven't known for thirteen years. Don't tell me you've never wanted to know." Yang looked at Sun's light for a few seconds, then nodded.

The light in the room dimmed slightly and a hologram appeared on the other side of the room. "If at any point you want it to stop, just say so," Bradford said from behind the sisters. Yang wrapped an arm around Ruby's shoulders and pulled her close.

Cerise also joined in. She flooded her mind into her Rider's. Ruby could feel her soulmate using her eyes and ears. _I'm with you, my Gem._

The video started with what looked like a first person view from a helmet. It moved from side to side, and multiple mounted machine guns lined an inner wall in Fort Castle. The courtyard was clear of any vehicles or anti-aircraft weaponry that was there in the most recent battle. Many Nevermores peaked their heads out of cover to look down into the courtyard, all of them had rifles or other long range weaponry on them.

After several seconds passed, the large main doors opened. One person in a white cloak stormed in. Though the quality wasn't the best at range, Ruby could see the figure wearing a black combat skirt and black hair giving way to red. She breathed in sharply. "Mom…"

Summer Rose looked directly at the camera. "Well I'm here! Alone! Do what you want with me, but do _not_ hurt my family!" Her fury was at the forefront of her voice, but Ruby also picked out desperation.

The man behind the camera laughed. "You stupid girl. I was never going to let your family live." Ruby and Yang stiffened at the revelation.

On screen, Summer did as well. "What?!"

"If your kids turn out like their parents and uncle, they will come searching for answers. I can't have that. Don't worry though, they won't be taken here. We don't take human prisoners. Their deaths will be quick."

Yang growled. "Bull. Shit." She pulled Ruby in closer.

Summer drew her sword from beneath her cloak and flipped it to its sniper form. "Cowards!"

"Maybe. The difference is, this coward will survive and profit." All the men on the walls stood up from behind cover and aimed down into the courtyard.

Ruby didn't expect what happened next. Her mom's eyes started glowing and her cloak started billowing in a wind that wasn't there a second before. Summer screamed, "Like hell, you will!" She fired a shot at the man behind the camera, and the screen went fuzzy.

"No, no!" Ruby practically jumped out of her chair. She turned to look at Bradford. "What happened?"

"The footage was corrupted at the source," the commander said. "It's like this for a few minutes, then it plays normally."

Ruby nodded slowly then sat back down. "He wanted us dead. What threat could we have been at the time?"

Yang brought her little sister into a hug. "Like he said. We weren't a threat at the time, but now look at us. Still, if he wanted us dead why are we still here?" She pulled back a little. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm pretty sure the guy who was speaking was the guy I…" Yang let the thought hang.

"…Not really, but at least he can't hurt anyone else again." Ruby thought about what happened right before her mom shot at the speaker. "Did mom's eyes glow when she teleported?"

"I don't know. I'm pretty sure she didn't cause a wind like that either, unless she was holding out on us."

Ruby nodded, then looked roughly to where Cerise lay. Using a dragon's near perfect memory could help. _Could you help me out here?_

 _If you tell me what we're looking for, I can help._

 _Mom and dad used to play two person monkey in the middle, with mom teleporting to either side._ Ruby felt her dragon dive into parts of her mind she didn't know existed. This didn't last long though, as a vivid memory overlaid what was actually going on in the room. Summer threw a ball over Taiyang's head over to where no one was. Then in a flash of rose petals, Summer caught the ball and threw it again. This went on a few more times, and Ruby tried to focus on her mom's eyes, but it was hard to work around an already existing memory.

Just as quickly as the memory came, it disappeared. Yang was gently shaking Ruby's shoulder. "Hey Rubes, you alright."

Ruby couldn't help but smile, current situation aside. "Mom's eyes didn't glow and there was no wind effect beforehand." Her smile disappeared. "Then what _was_ that?" She once again looked at her mom's sword. She knew what was coming, she just didn't know how.

The girl looked up and saw the footage was clearing up. Legs and a bloody left arm became visible. The man was limping across the floor. Soon, white stuff started to cover the floor. "Is that snow?" Yang asked.

Ruby cocked her head. "Ice Dust? I wouldn't be surprised if someone could do that." A few steps in, the snow turned red, and Ruby felt her stomach knot. The camera looked up, and a lone figure was crawling through the snow, toward the large hole in the main doors. The wrecks of several mounted turrets lined the edge of the courtyard. A few bodies could be seen through the snow.

The camera looked down again, and the man behind it picked up a sword semi-buried in the snow. Ruby whimpered as a bloody Sun's Light was handled by someone other than her mom. The man behind the camera walked over to the figure on the ground, and placed a foot on the blood stained white cloak. He kicked Summer over to reveal her face beaten, scratched, and missing an eye.

Yang tightened her grip around Ruby. "Commander, I think we've seen-"

"Keep it going," Ruby interrupted. She didn't know what drove her to say that, but she couldn't take her eyes off the screen. Some tears finally escaped her eyes. Cerise mentally hummed and sent even more of herself into Ruby's head.

On screen, Summer glared at her assailant with her good eye. She raised her left arm and her eye glowed again. Before anything could happen though, the man behind the camera drove his stolen sword into Summer's left shoulder. She didn't even scream, she just grunted as her hand fell to the ground. "How does it feel to be killed with your own weapon?"

Summer continued to glare and spat out blood. "How's it feel to have most of your operation to be dismantled by one huntress?"

The man growled and withdrew the sword. "Any last words, witch?"

The defiance in Summer's eye faded as she laid her head back in the snow. "Yang…Ruby…I'm sorry."

That was the final straw for Ruby. She closed her eyes and covered them with a hand of good measure. "Okay! Stop! I've seen enough!" For several seconds the only sound in the room was Ruby's heavy breathing. A door opened and then closed. Commander Bradford most likely left.

Yang brought her sister into a full hug. "Why did you want to go farther? We knew what was going to happen. We didn't need to see that."

"I did. There was a chance that something good could have happened." Ruby sobbed into her sister's shoulder. "She was thinking about us the while time. Think we helped out?"

"I know we did." Yang rubbed her sister's back. "Mom was a total badass. Did you see how many people she took down by herself? It's not like she was fighting an actual military, but still. Can you imagine what she could do to Grimm?"

"She could probably take out Deathstalkers in her sleep." Ruby pulled back and rubbed the right side of her head. "That's one more thing I have in common with her." She looked up at her sister's face, which was also leaking tears.

"You're taking this a lot better than I thought you would." Yang used an arm to dry her face.

"It just confirmed what we already knew. She went down fighting." Ruby turned to look at Sun's Light still sitting on the table. She froze for a second as she remembered the video. How much of that caked on blood was her mom's? "I'm really going to have to give that a thorough cleaning."

Yang sighed and nodded. "We should get back to the others and hopefully get some sleep." She paused. "Let me guess, you're going to need help?"

"Probably." Ruby grabbed her mom's sword off the table and just held it for a few seconds. The weapon may have taken Summer Rose's life, but it wasn't Sun's Light at the time. Her dad might not see it the same way though. He had as much of a right to know as anyone. That wasn't going to be a fun thing to explain.

* * *

 **So yeah. Summer is dead, and some of you may realize what I'm doing power wise now. To those who don't understand, I'll explain when it's smack in the face obvious, or until enough people guess in the reviews. There's enough psychics reading this for that to be possible.  
**

 **Also, if you're in the Navy or have been at some point, did I get the ranking system right? I it doesn't have to be 100% accurate, but I want it to be close.**

 **This is the last intentional stab in the heart chapter for a while. I have up to 38 written right now. There are feels, maybe a slight stab at some point, but next chapter healing begins.**


	35. Firecracker

**Well, enough people guessed in the reviews...Summer was the Winter Maiden, and now Ruby is. Why? One: We know nothing about 'silver eyed warriors,' and I'm still not 100% sure they're separate from other things (unless I missed a podcast or QnA or something). Two: Ruby 'froze' the Grimm dragon at the end of volume 3. 2+2=fish.**

 **Time to patch this all up. Heavy personal theory and head cannon in use. Also, this starts off with another stab. I do believe though that healing truly does start in this chapter, though some of you may not agree.**

* * *

Yang sat by Halcyon with a wet and soapy rag in hand. Even though Halcyon insisted Yang didn't owe him anything, his Rider insisted on cleaning his scales. It had been a day since they all returned. Everyone on the two teams was taking it easy, and Velvet refused to leave Vert's side. Weiss, being the most responsible one on team RWBY, was once again attending classes for the rest of the team.

Halcyon shivered as the rag came into contact with some scales on his tail. _The water's getting cold._

"Sorry." Yang put her free hand next to the bucket of water. "Brisingr." A small flame burned to life in her hand. It took a minute, but the water made it back to the temperature Halcyon liked. Yang set back to work on cleaning every single one of her dragon's scales. It had taken most of the day to get that far, but the end was in sight. She didn't mind the time consumption. It was time well spent with her dragon.

The main door to the Dragonhouse opened and Cerise walked in with a deer in her mouth. She walked over to Vert and placed the food down on the floor. The young green dragon hummed and set to work on his dinner. Cerise lay down nearby and watched the younger dragon eat.

Yang rolled her eyes. _I swear, it's like Cerise is trying to court Vert._ Her eyes shot up off her work, then sighed. _I've been spending too much time around Aaron._

 _There could be worse people to be around, Firecracker._

 _Firecracker?_ Yang locked eyes with her dragon. _Uncle Qrow already stole that from dad._

 _Would you rather I called you Little Sun Dragon?_

Yang rolled her eyes. _Either_ _one, I'll know what you mean._

"Vert, do you have to make this much of a mess?" Velvet moaned. Her voice carried across the Dragonhouse. Yang looked over to see Velvet looking at Vert, the latter of which was tearing into the deer. The blonde could guess what the newest Rider was seeing. Dragons weren't the cleanest eaters around.

"Hey Velvet," Yang called, "I'm probably going to have some leftover water here. You can use whatever's left if you want."

Velvet turned to look at Yang. "I may have to take you up on that." Vert hummed sadly, then covered his head and lunch with a wing. His Rider turned back to face him. "I didn't mean it like that!" Velvet stroked Vert's wing and mumbled things Yang couldn't hear.

Yang continued working on cleaning her dragon's scales. _Halcyon, you think Velvet's being a little overprotective of Vert?_

Halcyon snorted. _Aren't you being a little overprotective of Ruby? And me?_

 _…Fair point._ Yang focused back on Halcyon's tail. A few minutes later, she finished cleaning the last scale. She sighed and put the rag back in the bucket. The blonde Rider picked up her cleaning supplies and brought them over to Velvet. "Here ya go, Velv." She handed the bucket over.

"Thanks." Velvet turned around and immediately started cleaning the blood off Vert's scales.

Yang returned to her dragon and scratched at the base of Halcyon's neck. "Anything else I can do for you?"

Halcyon rolled his eyes. _I told you I didn't need this._

"I have my hair," Yang stroked her regrown locks, "you have your scales," she gave a new scale one last rub, "don't tell me you didn't like it."

Her dragon snorted. _Actually, there is one thing, but I don't think you'll like it._

"Name it."

Halcyon looked his Rider directly in the eyes. _Learn to fight without letting your anger control you._

Yang blinked and cocked her head. "That's been the way I've fought for years. Most Grimm can't touch me."

 _But look where it's gotten you against people. You were almost killed on the underground train. Twice, you were blinded by rage and nearly killed people. You_ did _kill someone._ Yang broke eye contact with her dragon. _I want you to do this so you know what you're doing at all times. When the time comes to fight, and possibly kill again, you need to be in the right mind to make the right decision._

"You want me to fight like Weiss?"

 _Like Aaron. He thinks farther ahead than the rest of your team, except perhaps for Ruby._

Yang scoffed. "Yeah. Fight like Aaron and kill people without a second thought."

Halcyon growled. _You know it's not like that. You know what he said after he rejoined the team._

"I know. It's just…these past few days have been intense." Yang sighed. "I don't think I'll be able to put this behind me until after everyone's back in the air."

 _If you're able to before that, I'll be worried._ The main door to the Dragonhouse opened again, and this time Aaron and Nalia walked in. They were flying around the kingdom removing the trackers from as many former prisoners as they could. Apparently they had finished with all those they could reach.

With the records recovered from Fort Castle, Atlas was able to determine which Faunus had trackers. In addition to that, they found many more who were actually sold. All across Vale and Vacuo, hostage rescue teams were freeing dozens of Faunus. Some were young, some were old. All any news station could talk about the 'Second Battle of Fort Castle' and the following rescue operations. If it was to be believed at all, the Nevermores were in their last days, or gone completely.

"You seen Ruby?" Yang called.

"She's in the workshop," Aaron said. "She's either working on improving her new arm, or working on…whatever she calls her fake skin. That and she…" he paused, then shook his head.

"I'm thinking both, more likely. From what she told me, there's a lot of waiting while working on the skin."

Aaron sighed. "I still don't know how any of the technology here works." He turned to look at Vert as he shakily stood up. "Going somewhere?"

 _I need water,_ Vert sighed. _I've barely had any in several days._

Nalia hummed at the smaller green dragon. _Need help getting to the river?_

 _I've got him,_ Cerise interrupted. She stood by Vert's side, helping him move.

"You'll be back in time for all of us to fly home, right?" Yang asked.

 _We won't take that long,_ Cerise promised as her little group left the building. The door closed, leaving Yang and Halcyon alone with their teammate/teachers.

Then was as good a time as any. "Hey Aaron," Yang started, "how do you fight so calmly?"

Aaron cocked his head. "What do you mean?"

"I've seen you fight. You don't smile, you don't grimace, I'm not sure you even breathe while fighting. Whatever it is you do works. You barely get hit, and you don't react when your do. How do you do that?"

The other Rider didn't answer for a few seconds. "It's a tactic we're taught early on in training on Vroengard. We're taught how to clear our minds and focus solely on the opponent in front of us. Emotions can give away attacks, and if you _know_ an opponent, predict their fighting style, the chances of victory are much better than running in blindly." Yang nodded, thinking she understood. "This doesn't sound like something you'd normally ask. What's going on?"

"For one, it was his idea." Yang stuck a thumb over her shoulder at Halcyon. "Second…I don't want a repeat of what happened in the control center. If I get in that kind of situation again, I want to be in full control. I don't want to blindly…act."

Aaron nodded sagely. "We can work on that soon, but I don't think we have the time to start today." His shoulders slumped slightly. "Now though, I need to talk to you and Halcyon about something really important. This is one of the few times I'll need you to swear in the Ancient Language that you won't tell anyone."

Yang stiffened slightly. This was a first. "That serious?"

"Very. And when I say don't tell anyone, I mean _anyone._ Not the rest of your team, not Velvet and Vert, not even Ruby and Cerise. The other Riders and dragons will learn in their own time."

"What's this about?"

Aaron held up his hands. "I can't say any more until you take the oath."

Yang hesitated, then looked at Halcyon. _What do you think?_

 _Whatever it is, it's important. Aaron trusts us with this. I don't like keeping things from our sisters any more than you do, but if he feels it's necessary, then we must do it._

 _If you say so._ Yang sighed, then did as she was told.

Aaron nodded then started casting his own spell. Yang caught a few words meaning silence. Soon after, all normal sound in the Dragonhouse disappeared. The green Rider turned to Yang. "I'm sorry, but I lied to you in the forest. Halcyon is not okay."

Yang froze in place, then slowly turned to face her dragon. He was also frozen, and worry radiated off him. The blonde slowly turned back to Aaron. "What do you mean 'he's not okay?'"

"The only reason I'm speaking in this language is because you aren't fluent in the Ancient Language yet. Know that I won't lie to either of you in here." Yang just stared at Aaron, not sure if she could completely trust him. "Halcyon isn't in any pain from this, and he won't notice it most days. He will live a happy and normal life even with it."

 _However,_ Nalia continued, _Halcyon has been robbed of something all dragons have._

"Please tell me this is all a big joke leading up to he lost the dragon version of an appendix." Yang slowly leaned into her dragon, trying to keep her mood from deteriorating further.

Nalia sighed. _I wish this was. Halcyon's Eldunarí has been damaged._ Yang narrowed her eyes in confusion, yet Halcyon tensed up beside her. _An Eldunarí is a dragon's heart of hearts. In terms you can understand, a dragon can put a copy of his soul into his Eldunarí, and give it to his Rider. It essentially creates a copy of himself. He can be in two places at once._

 _This also allows a dragon to live on, even after his body has died. A Rider still feels his dragon's death, but it's not as strong. The bonded pairs can continue on through life by each other's side, with the dragon still being able to lend his Rider energy._

Aaron took over. "When the Nevermores shot Halcyon, one of the Dust rounds hit his Eldunarí. It's not shattered, but it is not whole. I'm not sure if it can still work as intended. The elves or a more experienced Rider could be able to repair it, but we were barely allowed to know of the importance of the Eldunarí. We weren't trusted to handle them at all."

Yang stood confused, and more than a little ticked. "Let me get this straight. Halcyon's biological life support is damaged, and he can't live past when his body dies. If this was so important, why keep this from us? We could have had it out before he was shot!"

Nalia growled. _Because it's that frame of mind that has destroyed our race! Too many dragons gave their Riders their Eldunarí for convenience. They were isolated, which gave the traitors an advantage while hunting us. The Forsworn quite literally used our friends against us._

"And if and when I go back to fight Galbatorix, I'm going to have to advise the both of you to stay here." Aaron paused. "The traitor would have no reason to keep either of you alive." He winced. "Well, there's one, but that's a fate worse than death.

Yang shook her head. Still simmering, she looked at Halcyon. Somewhere in her exchange with Aaron and Nalia, she didn't notice her dragon's mounting fear. The waves flowing off Halcyon sobered Yang up quickly. "Halcyon, what's wrong?"

The gold dragon took a few seconds to respond. _Ever since dragons have been on Remnant, we've been injured more than our Riders, with Ruby being the exception. The Nevermores shot Cerise and Vert out of the sky, and skinned Vert alive. Beowolves nearly killed Cerise when she was only two weeks old. I was almost killed by a Bullhead. Even Nalia was grounded by an actual Nevermore before you all met._

Yang didn't like where her dragon's thoughts were going. She put a hand on the side of Halcyon's head. "What are you saying?"

 _I don't know of any dragon that has feared death. One common fear that all bonded dragons share is leaving their Riders alone._ Halcyon's eyes half lidded. _I'm now more likely to do that than the others._

"Don't say that!" Yang yelled with voice and mind. She threw her arms around her dragon's neck. She switched back to mental communication only. _I just pulled Ruby out of that hole, and I'm pretty sure Velvet and Vert have gone down there in the past few days too. I don't need you going down there too._

 _I won't. I'll just be a little more careful from now on._

 _We both will._ Yang looked up and saw Ruby standing awkwardly by the smaller entry door. The younger sister gave a small wave and said something, but the older couldn't hear it. Yang turned to Aaron. "I think you can let sound flow freely again."

Aaron nodded and ended the spell. Yang turned back to Ruby and saw her little sister's eyes widen slightly. "Ohhh, sound shield," Ruby said.

"Ready to go, sis?" Yang asked, not giving away her current mood.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Ruby looked down at the floor. "I'm not looking forward to giving dad Sun's Light."

"You sure you don't want me handing it over? I found it. It would make sense."

"Thanks for the offer, but I need to do this." Ruby walked over to her work bench and picked up her mom's sword. "Now we're just waiting for Cerise to get back."

* * *

Ruby watched the ocean water fly by beneath her, with Yang and Halcyon flying in Cerise' wake. The flight to Patch wasn't a long one, but this time it felt like it took hours. Normally spending time with Cerise and knowing that she'll see her dad in a few minutes would make the flight short. The sword strapped to the side of the saddle changed everything.

Some of Ruby's questions were answered with the footage of her mom, but opened a few more. Hopefully her dad would be able to answer them. That is, if he didn't shut down again. Yang said he didn't take it well the first time. How would he react now?

The small house came into view from the air. A few trees that stood by the house for years no longer existed, replaced by grass greener than the rest of the yard in an area large enough for all dragons currently in Vale. Cerise landed in the grass and Halcyon followed soon after. Ruby and Yang slowly dismounted their dragons.

The front door to the house flung open and Taiyang rushed out. "Thank God you're all alright!" He called as he ran. "I can't get anything out of Atlas. What happened out…" He came to a stop as Ruby removed Sun's Light and its sheath from Cerise' saddle. The girl cradled the sword in her arms as she brought it to her dad.

Neither of them spoke for several seconds. Ruby waited for her dad to say or do anything while Taiyang stared at the weapon in his daughter's arms. Finally, Taiyang took the sword from Ruby. "Where did you find this?" he asked.

"Fort Castle," Yang said from just behind Ruby. "It was in a records room just off the command center, hung like a… _trophy."_ She spat out the last word.

Taiyang gripped the sheath even tighter and tears formed in his eyes. He turned around and walked back into the house. Ruby and Yang locked eyes. That wasn't a good sign. They looked back at their dragons, who simply shifted uncomfortably on her feet. Then again, what would a dragon know about a situation like this?

The sisters followed their dad into the house and saw Taiyang open a clear weapons case in the living room. He placed Sun's Light inside, then sealed the case. "I don't know if I never wanted this to be found, or I hoped it would be." He shook his head then turned to look at Ruby. "She loved her sword. She was an even bigger weapons nut than you."

Ruby blinked her eyes rapidly to keep them from leaking. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Taiyang sighed and sat down in his chair. "This was one thing I didn't want you to copy from your mother." The sisters sat down on the couch across from their dad. "Both of you are so much like her. Putting others before yourselves is natural for you. Ruby, ever since you helped Violet, I knew you wouldn't stop going after the Nevermores. That was what I was worried about. Your mom had a similar first encounter. After that, she made it her mission to take them down. She wasn't as bad as…others were, but she took any contracts that could get information regarding the Nevermores. Well, we now know how that ended."

Ruby nodded and closed her eyes. Even with that, tears finally streaked down her face. "She went down fighting."

Yang put an arm around Ruby's shoulders. "Why didn't you say anything after that? Why not after…?" There was slight accusation in her voice.

Taiyang looked at his lap. "When I got the call from Atlas, I thought I was going to lose someone else. I didn't calm down until the day before I visited Beacon." He looked up at Ruby. "If you knew about any of it, I thought you'd go after the Nevermores like Summer did. I didn't want to lose you the same way."

"Well," Ruby paused, "we finished her work…What do you think she'd say right now?"

"If I had to take a guess, probably a stern scolding." Taiyang started a small smile. "Quickly followed up by how proud she was of both of you and an oven load of cookies either baking or soon to be."

Ruby also gave a small smile, then something caught her nose. She sniffed the air, and let out a small laugh. "I'd know that smell anywhere."

Taiyang shrugged. "I know I'll never be able to get it as good as her, but I can try."

"As long as they aren't burnt all the way through, I'm sure they're fine." Yang stood up and helped Ruby to her feet as well.

"That only happened one time, Yang." Taiyang held up a finger. "Five years ago. You still hold that against me?"

"Not me, Ruby remembers though." Yang clapped her sister on the back.

Ruby elbowed Yang with her natural arm. "Do not!" Some motion out a window caught her eye. A black bird stood on a tree branch that survived the clearing. It was looking into the house, and Ruby swore it was looking at Sun's Light. Ruby shook her head. She was probably seeing things.

* * *

Yang lay wide awake in the middle of the night. Her current bed wasn't the main problem, but it certainly didn't help. While she slept outside by Halcyon's side, Ruby was in her old bed, with Cerise laying on the other side of the wall. While Halcyon kept saying that Yang didn't owe him anything, he was glad his Rider preferred sleeping with him.

At the moment, it seemed like Cerise had Ruby's potential nightmares under control, and that was perfectly fine with Yang. For a while now, even though she had her little sister's explicit permission, Yang felt like she was intruding on Ruby's privacy. Some of the stuff that goes on in dreams is extremely private, and Yang always apologized for seeing something that crossed the line. Then again, ever since Ruby revealed her bionic arm to the world, she didn't need as much, if any help. That, or Cerise could deal with it easy enough. If anything good came out of the interference, at least Yang knew she didn't have to give anyone her 'you better not hurt my little sister, or else' speech. She felt like she'd have to return the favor someday, even if she never struggled with nightmares. It was only fair.

The blonde sighed and opened her eyes. Instead of seeing the golden canvas like normal, she stared up into the night sky at countless stars. That was one of the many perks of living a few miles away from the city on Patch. Less light pollution meant more stars were visible.

The sight was always so calming, so why couldn't Yang sleep? Ruby was safe. _Everyone_ was safe. The Nevermores were history. The house sat within the patrol routes of the Huntsmen and few androids that protected Patch. The only thing that threatened her at the moment were mosquitos. Well, she did have a nightmare about the control center at Fort Castle after leaving the _Vytal,_ but that had to be a one-time thing, right?

Yang sighed and closed her eyes as she thought of one more thing she could try. That one time in the Emerald Forest when she felt all the life around her was very soothing. Well, except for the spiders and other bugs in the ground. She tried doing the same thing. At first, she only felt Halcyon by her side. Slowly but surely, grass and other plants came into range. Eventually, she could feel Ruby, Cerise, and her dad. There were bugs around, but thankfully nowhere near her and Halcyon.

Just as she was about to stop expanding her range, she felt the presence of another person, one she wasn't familiar with. She snapped her eyes open and looked around the tree line surrounding her house. As she was still touching the minds of the dragons and her sister, they all had some sort of reaction. Halcyon groggily woke up, while Cerise and Ruby shifted in their sleep.

 _Yang, is something wrong?_ Ruby asked, more awake than she felt.

Yang 'saw' Ruby and a human sized Cerise at Forest View amusement park while contacting them. _Sorry, bugs in the dirt._

Ruby cocked her head and looked down at the concrete below her. _Dirt?_ She then looked up like she had an epiphany. _Ohhhh._

Cerise elbowed Ruby. _Took you long enough._ In Ruby's dream, Cerise' mouth moved.

Yang 'pointed' at Cerise. _That's creepy. Anyway, I'll let you two get back to your fun._ She pulled back into herself then looked in the direction where the unfamiliar mind came from.

Halcyon quietly rumbled next to his Rider. _Who do you think's out there?_ he asked.

 _I don't know, but I'm about to find out._ After those pictures the Nevermores had of her family, Yang wasn't taking any chances. She took Ember Celica out of Halcyon's saddlebags and activated the gauntlets. Before walking out into the woods, she focused her mind on the person. There wasn't any hostility on the surface, but that could very well mean that the person was gathering intelligence. Yang dug slightly deeper to figure out the intruder's motivation.

Suddenly Yang's anger transformed and she grimaced. _Halcyon, stay here._ The dragon looked like he was about to protest, but his Rider cut him off. _I need to handle this alone. If things go south, I expect you to be by my side in seconds._

 _What about Ruby and Cerise?_

 _Let them sleep. If they need to know, I'll tell them._ Yang walked into the forest, with her weapons still armed. She tracked the mind for a minute or two to a small clearing in the trees. So small, Vert wouldn't be able to land without clipping his wings. Yang looked at the source of her frustrations. "I know you're here. There's no point in hiding."

There were a few seconds of silence, then a thud came from inside the trees. A lone figure stepped out of the foliage. She wore a red and black jacket and a short black dress. Jet black hair ran down from the back of her head. A pair of red eyes sat behind a Grimm mask.

Yang clenched her fists. The mask looked too much like a Nevermore to her. "What? You don't want your own flesh and blood to look you in the face?"

Raven Branwen stood silently for a second, then removed her mask with one hand. She let it drop to the ground. "That make you feel better?" she asked condescendingly.

Her daughter ignored the question. "Where have you been all my life?"

"To be fair, I was with you the first few months, and I literally saved your neck a few weeks ago," Raven answered in a joking tone.

Normally, Yang would have been okay with her own sense of humor being turned back at her. Now was anything but normal though. "I can keep you here until you tell me what I want to know."

"Will you?"

"I will if I have to. Now why did you leave me?"

Raven's shoulders dipped slightly. "Your father and I were growing apart for months. He raised you better than I ever could."

"Where were you when I needed you most? Where were you when Summer died?"

"Would you really want Ruby growing up calling me mom like you did for Summer?"

Yang's anger grew at the mention of her sister and her sister's mom. "Answer the damn question!"

Raven tensed up. "Because I was responsible for Summer's death!"

Silence once again filled the clearing and Yang took a step back. Various images passed through her head. Summer crawling away from the Nevermores, bloody and beaten; Aaron and Ruby's first warehouse raid in Vale; the raid on Fort Castle; the prison at the base in the northern mountains; Ruby tortured, trussed up, and blown up; dozens of bullets tearing into Halcyon; her mom's Nevermore mask.

Yang blinked and the red haze tugged at the edges of her vison. She clenched her fists the hardest she had since after rescuing Ruby. "You're one of _them?!"_ She ran at Raven and pulled back a fist. Ember Celica fired a shot, but Raven jumped out of the way. "She was your teammate! Your _partner!"_

"She was my best friend! My _sister!_ I couldn't hurt her if I tried!"

"So you let the Nevermores take care of her?" Yang charged again, this time getting up close and personal. Raven dodged every punch and shotgun blast thrown her way though. Halcyon tried to contact his Rider, but Yang ignored him.

Raven put some distance between her and her daughter. "I could never work with those scum! I was hunting them!"

Yang stood in place, glaring at her mother. "Talk," she growled through clenched teeth.

"Summer wasn't the first to go after the Nevermores. Shortly after we graduated, I took several jobs for the arrest of kidnappers and to free anyone they took. The Lien was in the right place, and I was doing some good. When I started out, the Nevermores weren't known by anyone, not even Mistral intelligence. Summer actually blew the whistle when she helped, but that wasn't until years later.

"During that time, you father and I married. It was a rocky start, and time didn't help. He still doesn't realize that Lien makes the world go round, and that some criminals don't deserve to see the light of another day. I figured that out a few months in. The Nevermores are monsters. They need to be put down just like their Grimm namesake." Yang shifted on her feet. Raven's words brought up the still fresh memory of the Nevermore commander lying dead.

Raven sighed. "Then I got pregnant. I stopped taking missions, and for once things were looking up for me and your father. Despite what you might think, those three months I had with you were the best in my life." The red faded slightly from Yang's eyes, but she was still ready for battle.

"Then the pictures showed up in the mail one day. They were from all times of day, and all angles from outside the house. You were the only one in all of them. At the time, I only saw two options; take out the Nevermores completely, or make them think I wanted nothing to do with you and your father. I was nowhere close to taking the Nevermores out, so I cleaned out the back accounts and left." Raven truly locked eyes with Yang for the first time that night. "Yes, I left because of you, but it was that or let you be killed."

Yang dropped her fists and the red haze disappeared completely. Raven's story sounded a lot like what Yang knew of Summer's. "Okay, that's why you left, but I still don't see how you got Summer killed?"

Raven broke eye contact. "Taiyang was the only one in the dark about where I was at first, but I think Summer told him at one point what was going on. Qrow knew me too well and could find me anywhere I went. Summer…Summer always found a way to find me, even when I tried to stay underground. She tried everything to try and make me come back…even after she married Tai.

"She found me in Vacuo about six months after she gave birth to Ruby. I found information about a Nevermore storage warehouse in Bullworth, and I asked for her help." Raven shook her head. "After that, we worked together for a while, but soon after Summer set off on her own, and she hit the Nevermores harder than I ever did. She took down kidnappers, warehouses, and freed more Faunus than I can count. When we did work together, I held myself back for her sake. She never approved of my methods either.

"Soon after, thirteen years ago tomorrow, Summer was handed an envelope by someone off the street with pictures of you and Ruby inside. There was also a note saying to get to Fort Castle by midnight that night or else. She saw it as an opportunity to take them out and get me back to the family. Still, she was terrified that either of you would be killed. Even with her teleportation and my portals, if she didn't leave immediately, the kill order would be sent.

"We took separate paths to Fort Castle. Summer was more direct, while I made sure that no Nevermores made it to Patch. A few Bullheads made it by me, and I chased them as best as I could. At that time, I still wasn't the best at making portals into moving vehicles. It took until a few miles before we flew over Patch until I caught up with it. I took out the crew, then I flew it back as quickly as I could, but I was too late.

A single tear escaped from Raven's eyes. "I had a choice between saving you and Ruby, or saving Summer. If I chose her, I would have lost all of you."

Yang finally uncurled her fingers, all her anger dried up. "If you were there, why didn't you get her sword out?"

"If I did go back to that place, I would have slaughtered everyone in there. She wouldn't have wanted that. Anyway, I had other priorities. They were going to dump Summer's body in the ocean. I couldn't let them do that. I took them out cleanly, then I got Summer out of there." Raven shook her head and hugged herself. "She was in bad shape. I cleaned her up as best I could and took her back to Patch. I don't know if Tai ever told you, but Summer _is_ buried where her tombstone is, not lost in the forest. As far as I know the only ones who know are my team, Ozpin, and Glynda."

Yang's eyes widened slightly. That was another thing her dad never said. She heard a faint squeak behind her, but not one from a rat or baby dragon. Yang turned her head slightly. _Ruby, why are you out here?_ she thought to herself.

Raven apparently didn't notice. "None of us thought Summer would be the first to go. The whole team took it differently. Qrow turned to alcohol, Tai shut down, and I…I tried coming back, but even back then Ruby looked so much like her mother." Yang thought she saw actual tears in her birth mother's eyes. "There was also no way I could replace Summer. I couldn't let Ruby grow up calling me 'mom' like you did for Summer. Let's be honest here, you would not be the same woman you are today if I helped raise you. There's also the high probability that the Nevermores would come back after me."

Yang nodded sadly. "Even though she was two, I think Ruby would know who her real mom was."

"Probably." Raven sighed, then looked to the sky. "I've stayed as long as I could. I'm needed in Mistral for another mission." She reached down and picked up her mask.

"Wait, if you fought the Nevermores, why do you wear that mask?"

Raven grimaced. "Mine and Qrow's tribe wore these. Once we left for Beacon, we never went back. Summer made sure of that." Raven fit the mask over her face. "But it strikes fear into my enemies. They'll know who they're facing would show no mercy. But they won't know who is attacking them. Or, that was the plan."

"The Nevermores are gone. You don't need to wear that anymore."

"I wish I could share your confidence." Raven shook her head. "You may have taken out their commander and their main base, but I'm sure there are some cells still out there. They'll keep on doing what they're doing until they're put in the ground." Raven took out her sword and swung it. A black and red portal appeared where she sliced. "Ya know Firecracker, after I saved you on that train, I told Qrow to tell you to not expect that kindness again. Mainly because I'm going to be in Mistral for the foreseeable future," she turned to look at Yang, "and as long as you can control your temper, you won't need my help."

Yang huffed. "Firecracker. Is everyone stealing that from dad?"

Raven cocked her head. "Where do you think he got it?"

Yang chuckled. "Well, see you whenever…mom." The word felt weird in Yang's mouth, but she didn't hate it. Raven nodded and stepped through her portal. It disappeared after she entered. Yang turned around and walked to where she thought her little sister was hiding. Soon, she saw part of Crescent Rose sticking out from behind a tree. "Ruby, how much did you hear?"

Ruby looked up at her big sister as she rounded the tree. The younger sister stood up while cradling her scythe. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to eavesdrop! Your Gauntlets woke up Cerise, then I-"

"Hey, it's alright." Yang put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "I was going to tell you anyway. You heard it right from the source. Now how much did you hear?"

Ruby looked at the ground and shifted on her feet. "I heard from when she was talking about mom's involvement with facing the Nevermores in Vacuo."

Yang gently shook Ruby's shoulder. "You got all you needed to know."

Ruby looked up with teary eyes. "Why would dad lie to us about mom?"

"I don't know. Maybe to keep it from getting out? Keep us safe from the Nevermores? He has to have a reason."

"Probably. We should probably get back home before dad gets worried."

"He's awake? He is a heavy sleeper."

"Better safe than sorry. Don't want him to freak out again."

* * *

 **No, Halcyon isn't crippled or dying, but he's not 100% either.**

 **The Raven bit is an extreme version of a personal theory, where something happened where she didn't want to leave Yang but she had to in order to protect her, and she somehow feels responsible for Summer's death. Why do I think this? Frankly, I just don't want Raven to be the terrible person that everyone says/thinks she is.**

 **One more thing, I'm thinking about starting a QnA section in either the top or bottom author's notes. If you're wondering about my writing process or why I chose certain events, ask away. I might expand into a few other things if there's enough interest or I like the question. If you have something, send a PM or tack it on somewhere in a review.**


	36. Tournament Day

**Well, the QnA thing is a no go...Also, I'm genuinely thinking about changing the name of the story. At first I thought it would be a nice play of words, especially since Ruby would have a ruby built into Crescent Rose...but that hasn't happened yet. Also, it's gramatically incorrect, which has been bugging me from day one. I'll probably change it to 'Riders of Remnant' or something along those lines in the next week.**

 **Volume 3 begins! Though a little different than you remember.  
**

 **FRST=Forest**

* * *

Ruby dismounted Cerise and looked at the carved stone she knew all too well. It had been too long since she visited the cliff, not since before she took on Torchwick the first time. So much had happened since then: her acceptance into Beacon, being in charge of a team, Cerise…the Nevermores.

Cerise stayed behind as Ruby slowly walked forward, hood still on her head and a gift for her mother in her left hand. She didn't feel quite right going up there wearing her combat arm, but the only other option was in pieces back in her workshop at Beacon. The Rider looked down at her mom's tombstone. Her eyes continued on to look at the ground, where she finally knew Summer Rose was buried. She didn't like the thought that she was standing on top of her mother, but moving to the side or standing farther away from the tombstone would feel just as wrong.

Up until that point, Ruby didn't know what she's say. She took off her hood before speaking. "Hey mom. Sorry I haven't come by in a while. Things have been... Well, things have been pretty busy. Oh! Yang's here too. I'm sure she wants to talk with you after everything that's happened. I'll leave that to her.

"Dad's on his way, but we beat him. He's, you know...Dad. He's still teaching at Signal, but he told me he's going to be going out on some mission soon. I think he misses adventuring with you." Ruby paused and smiled sadly. "I miss you too.

"Haven't gotten kicked out of Beacon yet! So that's cool. I think being on a team with Yang helps. I keep her in line…That was a joke. She's actually a really great fighter, you can tell she's learned a lot from Dad. Well so are Weiss, Blake, and Aaron. Oh! They're my teammates. Together we form team RWBY! And yes, before you ask, that does cause a lot of confusion, especially since the news calls us RWBAY.

"Anyways, uh, I made a bunch of new friends," Ruby slightly turned and waved Cerise forward, "and I met someone we didn't know could exist." She put her hand on her dragon's snout as Cerise took her place beside her Rider. "Formal introduction, this is Cerise Longtail, my dragon. Please don't take this the wrong way, but she's my soulmate. It's nothing romantic or anything, but it's like our minds might as well be one. I can't really explain it more than that." Cerise hummed, nuzzled her Rider, then returned her gaze to the tombstone.

Ruby came to the part that she didn't really want to think about, but had to. She looked up to the sky. "I don't know how much you've seen from up there, but I've continued your work down here, even though I didn't know I was." She looked back down at the tombstone and managed a small smile. "We took down the Nevermores mom. We did it. All it cost me was an arm and a leg and an eye. Literally." She moved her bionic arm in front of her as if to show the stone.

The girl's mind went to a darker place. "And I guess my sanity at times. I haven't been the same since they kidnapped me. Nightmares, indecision in the battlefield, Zwei's ears…" Cerise hummed and nudged Ruby again to get her back on track. "The team's been a big help, and so have Beacon's counselors, but I don't think it's going to get better any time soon. I'm waiting for a doctor's official diagnosis of PTSD. Looks like my chances of serving in the military are gone."

Something chilled Ruby's body for a second. _My Gem._ As soon as the chill came, it left.

Ruby turned to look at Cerise. "Yes?"

Cerise cocked her head. _I didn't say anything._

Ruby shook her head and turned back to the tombstone. She was hearing things now. "Mom, I know you wouldn't want this keeping me down. I'm working to overcome it. I don't know if there's a relation, but I've helped a few other people come out of similar mental situations since I was kidnapped. If I can help people like that, I will. If for whatever reason I can't fight down the line and all I can do is talk, I'll do that."

The girl looked down at her left hand and opened it. A single seed rested in the palm of her hand. "Since Cerise hatched for me, I've been able to do a few more things, that up until that point no one on Remnant could. I'd like to show you one of those."

Ruby knelt down and placed the seed right beside the tombstone. This was only the second time she attempted this, the first being when Aaron stopped by her workshop the day before. She did it 'perfectly' the first time, but that was with Aaron right there helping her through it.

The Rider took a deep breath, then held her hand over the seed. With Cerise' help, she called up the memories of the previous day and started singing in the Ancient Language. It was by far the most complicated spell she cast to date, but the outcome was worth it. She sung of roots spreading, stem growing, and petals flowering. As she sang, a green stem sprouted from the ground. It grew rapidly and a few leaves formed on the stem. When it reached an appropriate height, the petals bloomed to form the flower.

Ruby smiled and lowered her hand. She just grew a beautiful white rose in a matter of minutes. The spell made her feel tired, but she ignored it. She placed her natural hand on the tombstone. "That's for you, mom…I love you." She stood up and pulled her hood over her head. "I'm glad we had this talk." Ruby felt chilled again, but passed it off as an ocean wind.

Cerise hummed and gently pushed her way past her Rider. She moved her head down ant touched her snout to the tombstone. Ruby felt a wave of…something pass though the ground. She also noticed a severe drain in her dragon's energy. Just as soon as it started, it stopped. Cerise pulled her head back and hummed.

"What did you do?" Ruby asked her dragon.

 _Besides that, I'm not entirely sure._ Cerise looked at the rose. Ruby followed her dragon's gaze and her eyes widened. White and _red_ rose petals intermingled throughout the flower. It looked like a perfect fifty-fifty split.

Ruby smiled, but she knew there had to be more than that. There was too much of an energy drain for that to be it. She didn't press the issue. "Come on, let's let Yang have her time." The Rider and dragon turned around and walked away from the cliff side. Yang and Halcyon stood at the edge of the tree line, and the former had a huge smile on her face.

"You taking voice lessons from Weiss or something?" Yang asked.

"You heard that?" Ruby's head shrunk between her shoulders.

"I didn't understand more than half of what you were saying, but that was beautiful."

"Don't tell Weiss that. She'll make me join the choir."

"I'm sure she'll figure it out on her own." Yang ruffled Ruby's hair, then walked forward to the cliff with Halcyon in tow.

 _She's right, you know_. Cerise nudged her Rider. _You are a good singer._

"You have something to do with that? I never was the best before you came along."

 _I didn't do anything. That was all you._

Ruby smiled again. "Thank you. Thank you for being up there with me too."

 _If it's important to you, it's important to me._ From there, the Rider and dragon were silent, giving Yang and Halcyon the time they needed. Yang didn't take as long as Ruby, but she didn't grow a rose.

"Ready to get back to Beacon?" the older sister asked.

"Yep. I have to see the look on Aaron's face when he sees Amity Colosseum fly in."

"You have a point there. Aaron and Nalia's heads might explode."

 _Hopefully not. That would make a mess,_ Halcyon quipped.

 _Let's get going while the wind's calm._ Cerise dropped to her belly. _Also, I'm hungry and there's not much food for a dragon around here._

Ruby chuckled. "Okay. I think there's some good stuff in the cafeteria too."

Yang climbed up onto Halcyon. "We have steak, swordfish, freshly baked bread, when don't we have good stuff?"

 _Stop making me hungry!_ Cerise snapped, then she took off. Ruby didn't have her helmet on, and she didn't strap into the saddle either. Her dragon wasn't going to fly fast with Halcyon being as injured as he was. Also, the area between Patch and the mainland was one of the least Grimm populated on the planet. The chances of a fight were almost non-existent. Ruby just leaned forward in the saddle and wrapped her arms around her dragon.

* * *

"So where exactly is Amity Colosseum?" Aaron asked any member of his team as they left the cafeteria.

"Somewhere over the ocean, I'd expect," Yang answered matter-of-factly.

Aaron stopped in his tracks. "'Over the ocean?' I thought the tournament was in Vale."

"Oh it is." Weiss didn't elaborate.

"Soooo, is it floating in the ocean somewhere?"

"If it's in the water, there is something really wrong." Ruby smirked.

Aaron turned to the one person who hadn't spoken. "Blake? Would you care to explain?"

The Faunus shook her head. "This was their idea. I'm just playing along."

"None of you are any help." Aaron sighed.

Weiss turned to look at Aaron. "Don't tell me in all the books you've read you never saw anything about Amity Colosseum."

"It was built by all the kingdoms about fifty years ago for use in the Vytal Festival Tournament. When not in use it's…docked in Vacuo. Wait, how can a building _dock?"_ Again, there was no response from any of his teammates. Aaron sighed as he followed Ruby to the Bullhead landing pads.

The docks were packed with people. Some sat in folding chairs, others stood, all looked out toward the ocean. Aaron saw team JNPR toward the back of the crowd. Jaune turned back and locked eyes with Aaron for a split second. "Hey guys!" the Rider called and waved. "How you all doing?"

"I'm refreshed and ready to fight!" Nora cheered.

Ren smiled a little at Nora, then turned to RWBY. "So, you're a five-person team. How is that going to work for the tournament?"

"Pretty simple," Aaron said. "I'm the newest member of the team, so I'm sitting out. Also, my sword can cut through Aura normally, so I probably wouldn't compete anyway for fear of permanently injuring someone."

"Is that what happened in your first sparring session?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah." Aaron scratched the back of his head. "Luckily I had my edges blocked." Ruby rubbed her left arm where Aaron hit her that time. Aaron still felt guilty about that.

"I know you guys have been," Jaune paused, "busy the past few days. Have you seen the bracket yet?"

Ruby's neck straightened. "That would probably be a good idea." She took her scroll out of her pocket. Aaron and Yang followed suit. Weiss opened her mouth to say something, but quickly shut it.

As Aaron tried to figure out where exactly he could find that information on his scroll, he saw he had a message waiting for him. He opened it and read it to himself. A smile broke out on his face. "Well I was worrying about that for nothing." The rest of his team looked at him. "Typically buildings aren't strong enough to hold a dragon's weight. Looks like Amity Colosseum has a few spots on top that can. They can watch the whole thing with no problem."

"Huh," Yang grunted. "Good thing you were on top of that. I didn't even think about it."

"The bracket finally loaded," Ruby announced. "Hey, CFVY is up first, and they're up against team FRST from Shade…wait, didn't FRST win last year?"

"Two teams of powerhouses," Blake stated. "That will be an interesting fight."

"Looks like we're at about noon tomorrow." Ruby sighed in relief. "Good. My other arm should be ready by then."

Yang cocked her head. "Wait, I thought you were happy with that arm. Why do you need the other one?"

Ruby raised her right arm. "This thing isn't exactly a floor model. I'd rather not have someone working around this thing to bring the strength down to make it legal and end up messing something important up." There were a few nods of agreement, but Aaron still had no idea what went into a bionic arm to make it work. That probably would have helped.

"I think I see it!" Someone in the crowd yelled. Aaron turned to look out at the ocean. He saw a few black dots on the horizon, but couldn't see any details. There was a low rumble behind Aaron and steady tremors in the ground. He turned to see all four dragons walking over from the Dragonhouse. Velvet, of course, stood right by Vert's head.

"How you two doing?" Aaron asked.

Velvet smiled. "Much better than before. Vert's walking again on his own, and he isn't in any pain."

 _And Velvet's finally sleeping again._ Vert nuzzled his Rider.

Aaron smiled. When a dragon and Rider answered for each other, it signified their bond was very strong. He turned to Vert. "How are your wings?"

Vert's head dipped a little. _I'm not even going to try and fly for a few days. I'd drop like a rock._

Velvet stroked Vert's head. "You'll get better. You're strong enough."

 _I just wish I could be up there to watch your fight._

"I told you, we can probably find a transport to fly you up there."

 _And I said no straps!_ Vert tensed up and looked away from Velvet. Aaron didn't like the feeling that Vert most likely didn't broadcast on purpose. _No straps. Not again._

Aaron looked up at Nalia. _Can you do something about this?_

Nalia cocked her head. _I believe I could carry him on my back, but that would be a struggle the whole way._

Ruby stepped into Aaron's view. "You don't have to be strapped in. I think you can get an empty air bus to give you a lift up there. If not that, there's Beacon's transport. I don't think Ozpin would mind too much."

Vert raised his head slightly. _A dragon being the one given a ride. I believe that's irony._

 _Happened to me once too,_ Cerise chipped in. _I remember it being a good time. I was a lot smaller though._

 _My stars,_ Nalia gasped. Aaron turned to his dragon again and raised an eyebrow. _Aaron, turn around._ The Rider did as instructed and stared back out into the ocean. The black dots were a lot closer and took on distinctive shapes. There were two ships in the water and two more in the air.

The thing in the middle took Aaron's breath away. It looked like a cone, with the tip pointing at the water. As it got closer, Aaron saw the bottom part looked like an oversized Dust crystal. Directly above that was what looked like hangers for transports. Large glass windows sat another level up, and the whole structure was topped off with a white crown. One thought came into Aaron's head. "How is that thing able to fly?"

There were a few groans in Aarons team while Yang pumped a fist. "Yes! Pay up people!" Ruby, Weiss, and Blake all gave Yang five Lien. "Fifteen Lien! I'm rich!"

Aaron furrowed his eyebrows. "I was the subject of a bet, wasn't I?"

"You were," Ruby admitted. "I thought you'd say that it shouldn't be possible."

"I'd explain how it works," Weiss offered, "but I think I'd lose you two words in."

"Probably." Aaron rubbed the back of his neck. "I take it the ships are from the four kingdoms."

"It's a similar escort every year," Blake explained. "An Atlesian frigate, a Vacuan aircraft carrier, a Misrtalian battleship, and a Valan aerial corvette."

"Atlas and Mistral also provide submarines," Weiss added. "Vale and Vacuo would, but they lost them five tournaments ago to a few Kraken. Neither are working on replacing them either."

"So Amity Colosseum is probably one of the safest places on Remnant right now." Aaron nodded in approval. "I like it."

 _I'm still trying to figure out how everything flies without wings._ Nalia shook her head.

"A few months ago," Yang started, "I'd say magic, but even that doesn't make sense anymore." There were a few laughs around the group.

"Well, I need to get ready for my team's fight, and see if Ozpin could get a transport for Vert."

"Velvet, I shouldn't have to tell you this, but no magic," Aaron said. Velvet nodded, then turned and walked away. She waved over her shoulder.

Ruby waved back. "See you later! Break a leg Velvet!"

"Awww," Nora pouted, bringing herself back into the conversation. "Why don't you ever tell me to break people's legs."

Ren grabbed Nora's shoulder and pulled her away. "Because you'd take it literally." Aaron watched as Ren dragged Nora behind the rest of their team.

"So, should we head to the fairgrounds?" Jaune suggested. "I think I heard Ozpin's giving an opening speech there at some point."

"There's a bunch of cotton candy there too," Yang chipped in.

Ruby perked up at that. "You should have lead with that! Let's go!" She walked off and led the two teams to the fairgrounds. Their route carried them right by the dorms. Farther along their route, Velvet and Vert walked in the same direction. Aaron watched Vert's walk carefully. The young dragon had a bit of a limp on his back right leg. It was completely understandable considering the situation he was in only a few days before.

As Velvet and her dragon passed a class building, four figures came into view behind them. Aaron stiffened slightly, then picked up his pace slightly. Ruby picked hers up as well to almost a run. "Don't you _dare_ Cardin," Aaron heard the girl mumble. Up ahead, Cardin reached a hand out toward Velvet.

A few things happened at once. Vert snapped his head around to look at the bully. Aaron reached for his V4, but he forgot he left it in the Dragonhouse. Ruby shouted, "Not happening!" She disappeared in a flash of rose petals and the trail led right to Cardin. Aaron sprinted to the area as well, with the rest of the two team group right behind him.

During the time it took to catch up, Ruby had knocked three members of team CRDL to the ground and held one of Cardin's arms in a painful position behind his back. Vert positioned himself between Velvet and her would be attacker. Velvet looked like she was about to have a panic attack.

The only sound in the area was a few moans from Cardin and his goons on the ground. Ruby stood on the tips of her toes to speak in the bully's ear. "If you or anyone on your team reach for Velvet, another Faunus, or _anyone_ like that again," she moved Cardin's arm down to force his head lower, "I won't hesitate to break you all." She shoved Cardin away and toward the rest of his team.

Ruby turned around and started walking back to her team. Aaron suddenly wasn't sure if this was the same person he'd known since arriving on Remnant. Motion behind his team leader caught his eye. He saw Cardin moving to attack Ruby. Aaron was about to warn her when the red Rider scowled, her eyes narrowed and shot to the side. Right as the bully was about to throw a punch, Ruby spun around quicker than the eye could follow and punched Cardin right in the gut with her metal arm. He flew at and _through_ a solid concrete wall and into a classroom.

"For once in your life," Ruby growled, "don't be a moron, and stay down." She turned to Velvet, her face not showing any of the animosity just from a few seconds ago. "I'm so sorry about that Velvet. I would have stopped that sooner if I could."

Velvet reached up and touched one of her ears. Her mouth was moving, but no words were coming out. Vert growled at the debris, then gently shouldered Velvet to get her moving again.

Aaron stood trying to figure out what just happened. He only knew a few people who could flip emotions like that, and they were among the best fighters and counselors the old Order had to offer. Ruby was young, but she was creeping up there.

Ruby watched Vert and Velvet go, then she turned back to where Cardin was moving among the rubble. She scowled again, then walked back toward her team. "I'm expecting professor Goodwitch to show up any second."

"Uh, Rubes," Yang said, "now I _know_ you don't need the helmet for intimidation."

"Ruby, I've never seen you like that before," Jaune stated. "Are you okay?"

 _"I'm_ fine. After what I've seen and what happened to Velvet…" Ruby closed her eyes tightly and clenched her fists. "I couldn't allow that to happen. Someone might have to hold me back if someone even looks at Velvet's ears in the tournament."

"Was she that bad off?" Nora asked in one of her few moments of sanity.

"If she wants others to know the specifics she'll say so," Aaron told the normally hyperactive girl. "But yes. She was in that bad of a condition."

"I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing." Pyrrha looked at the rubble. "Those four need to be knocked down a peg or two."

"Or twenty," Blake mumbled.

"I did the best I could to do that." Ruby looked past her group. "Here she comes." Aaron turned around and saw professor Goodwitch storming toward the group. Barely anyone saw her in a pleasant mood, and she was about as opposite of that as she could get right now.

"Would anyone care to explain what happened here?" Goodwitch asked when she reached the group.

Ruby raised her hand. "That would be me. No one else here did any fighting."

Goodwitch narrowed her eyes at Ruby. "Then can you explain why you blew a massive hole in a building?"

Ruby crossed her arms. "I was defending Velvet. I'm sure you know what happened to her. Team CRDL has been messing with her all year. They always go for her ears. When Cardin reached a hand out, well above Velvet's shoulder, I snapped. After what I've seen and experienced," she shook her head, "I couldn't allow that to happen. She's panicked as is. I don't want to think about what she would have been like if I didn't do something. I knocked all of CRDL down, then Cardin attacked me when my back was turned. I have the whole thing recorded if you want evidence." Ruby tapped the right side of her head.

Goodwitch blinked a few times, then said, "I think I will take that recording, miss Rose." She looked at the rest of the group. "Do any of you have anything to add?"

Yang shook her head. "Not without getting detention."

"Ruby covered all of the important points, professor," Pyrrha said. "Everything else is subject to point of view."

"Now, if you excuse me, I have a mess to clean up." Goodwitch walked past the two groups toward the rubble. All of team was on their feet by that point. Cardin opened his mouth and pointed at Ruby, but his mouth shut with one look from Goodwitch.

"We should get going," Ren said. "No point in sticking around."

"Especially when there's cotton candy where we're going!" Nora squealed, once again her normal self.

* * *

Ruby sat in her arena-side seat in Amity Colosseum with a large bag of cotton candy in her lap. Jaune was wrong Ozpin's speech in the fairgrounds, and both teams had to run to catch the last air bus to the stadium. As they ran, Ruby saw Vert riding on top of Beacon's large transport up toward the roof of Amity. It turns out that's what Ruby needed to see in order to calm down.

Most of her team sat to either side of her. Weiss was elsewhere in the Colosseum with Beacon's choir. Aaron had a ridiculously sized bucket of popcorn that he said he could eat alone. All four dragons looked over the lip of the roof into the arena. Vert, even though he was the least energized, looked the most interested in what was going on in the bowl.

Music played over the Colosseum's speakers and the symbol of the tournament spun into existence on the four screens. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Faunus and humans, welcome to the fortieth semi-annual Vytal Festival Tournament!" The bowl exploded into cheers and applause. Ruby joined in but rolled her eyes. Of course Professor Port would be one of the stadium announcers.

"We are coming to you live from Amity Colosseum, now currently hovering above the city of Vale." Ruby couldn't help but laugh. Oobleck too? Was there going to be any relevant commentary for those watching at home? "This marks the tenth time the Vytal Festival has been held in this city. The Kingdom of Vale welcomes all visitors and competitors from the other kingdoms."

"Would everyone please rise and remove your headwear for the Vale Anthem, sung this afternoon by the Beacon Academy Choir." Ruby stood up along with everyone in the stadium. Well, almost everyone. Aaron struggled to find a place to put his bucket without spilling its contents all over the floor. He eventually did and removed his hat.

Two of the jumbotrons showed Beacon's choir on the arena floor while the other two displayed a waving flag. The choir sang, and a large portion of the audience joined in. Near the halfway point of the anthem, the cameras focused in on Weiss. She was one of the few people in their wearing her normal outfit, as everyone who isn't competing had to wear their school uniform.

The anthem ended and the Colosseum burst into applause. The process repeated for the other three kingdoms. Of course, after Vacuo's, the section from Shade burst into the apparently mandatory "VAC-U-O! VAC-U-O!" chant.

All four of the choirs exited the stadium and a history of the Festival showed on the jumbotrons, from the historical parades to the past winners. Ruby knew what was coming and braced for it. Eventually the screen showed the in arena celebration for the winners of the thirtieth tournament: team STRQ. A young version of her mom jumped around like a little kid and grinning like an idiot in the center of the arena. She turned and stuck her arms out to the side and was tackled to the ground by the rest of her team. Ruby smiled and wiped a tear from her eye. "What a way to finish of your fourth year."

Yang put an arm around her sister's shoulders. "What is it you always say? 'Like mother like daughter?'"

"Don't jinx it Yang." Ruby elbowed her sister.

The past winners video finished up and the screens once again focused on the area. "Without further ado," Port said, "let's meet our first combatants!"

"Please welcome team FRST from Shade and team CFVY from Beacon!" Oobleck announced. The two teams entered from opposite ends on the arena. They took their positions in the central octagon for the personal introductions. After team FRST was fully introduced, the cameras around the Colosseum picked out their fans in the crowd. As they were the reigning champions, they had a lot of support.

That wasn't to say team CFVY didn't have any. They were a home town team, and the one of the first teams to fight. The bowl erupted in cheers for each member of the team. Their fans got the same treatment. Several people wore berets and sunglasses mimicking Coco. Of course there were a lot of Faunus in the crowd cheering for Velvet. Vert even got a few seconds of screen time. He shrunk away from it, but he at least had a few fans in the crowd.

The screens once more showed the arena. "Team FRST of Shade vs team CFVY of Beacon," Port announced. Several holograms appeared around the arena. They hummed as they spun for the biomes. After a few seconds, they landed on city and swamp. The appropriate terrain rose out of the floor around the central octagon. Both teams set up for the fight. Ruby edged forward in her seat. This was going to be interesting. "3, 2, 1, begin!"

Coco immediately fired her minigun at the opposing team. Yatsuhashi, Fox, and Velvet ran on either side of the bullet stream. Only two members of FRST was pinned down by Coco, the others were free to move. Fox and Velvet double teamed one opponent who used a sword. Velvet hung mostly hung back while Fox attacked. The two seemed evenly matched, but Fox appeared to be the distraction. Velvet snuck around her opponent, then kicked him full force in the back. He stumbled, which was Fox needed to deliver a powerful blow, halving the other guy's Aura.

While that was going on, Ruby saw Yatsuhashi follow someone else into the swamp. She couldn't tell exactly was going on in the trees, but if the Aura readings were right, Yatsu was kicking butt. Suddenly, a body flew out of the trees, and out of the combat stage. The buzzer sounded, and CFVY was up four to three.

Back with Velvet and Fox, they were pummeling their opponent. Somewhere in the exchange, Velvet grabbed the guy's sword. She and Fox were swinging their weapons at their opponent, but he kept on backing up and dodging. Ruby thought it might have been a tactic, except for the fact that he was backing up toward the edge of the stage. People had used that tactic before to make the switch, but this guy looked like he had no idea what he was doing without his weapon.

The three came to the edge of the stage. Fox and Velvet grew more cautious in their attacks. Velvet threw a swing at the guy's body, but he grabbed onto the blade. He yanked it, and Velvet was holding on to tight. She would have immediately gone over the edge if she didn't land a kick on the guy's midsection. He flew off the edge, and Velvet very nearly did as well. She dug her 'borrowed' sword into the ground and hung off the side of the stage. The official rules were that she couldn't touch the ground or the outer wall, so that was perfectly legal. Fox helped his teammate back onto the stage, then they started running back to where Coco was still firing.

"Four to two," Yang stated. "I like those odds."

"Velvet got one to," Ruby added. She looked up at the Aura board and saw that Velvet had the least on her team at just under half. Coco wasn't even touched. Something was off. "Where are those two guys Coco pinned down?"

The answer wasn't long in coming. A rocket shot out of a building at a completely different angle than Coco was shooting. She saw it coming and jumped out of the way, but was still caught in the explosion. Ruby subconsciously grabbed her right arm. Soon after, assault rifle fire came out of a lower level in the building. Yatsuhashi ran in front of Coco and blocked the shots on his oversized blade.

Velvet and Fox finally made it back to the center of the stage. A rocket shot at them and split into three different missiles. The two on the ground changed direction and so did the rockets. As the rockets closed in on them, Velvet intentionally kicked Fox forward and took all three missiles herself. She flew back from the explosion and into a solid tree in the swamp. The buzzer sounded, signaling Velvet's defeat.

Ruby covered her mouth, then looked up at the Aura board. "Three percent?"

"She'll be feeling that in the morning," Weiss stated.

"They can still easily win this," Blake said. "They have the numbers advantage."

A fairly loud whimper filtered through the stadium noise. Ruby looked up to see Vert standing on the very edge of the roof, looking down at his Rider. Cerise held a paw to the other dragon's chest, preventing him from jumping, not that he'd make it through the forcefield.

Ruby looked back down, and didn't see Yatsuhashi or Fox anywhere. Coco was shooting from behind a ruined car for cover. Her bullet stream ran up and down the hostile building and from side to side. A loud bang sounded from inside the building and it all lurched forward. Yatsuhashi ran out the front door while Fox jumped out a second story window. The building lurched again and started falling forward. Coco stopped firing, as did the two still in the doomed building.

The front half of the first three floors collapsed, and the speed of the fall increased. A huge dust cloud burst forth as the front face of the building hit the floor of the stage. The buzzer sounded twice soon afterward. Team FRST was out.

The crowd erupted in cheers. Of course, all of team RWBY and JNPR joined in. Vert and Nalia let loose a victory roar. Back on the ground, Fox was helping Velvet to her feet, and Yatsuhasi and Coco helped the two opponents from the building out of the rubble.

Once again, Port spoke to the stadium. "If that match is a sign of what to come, this will be one exciting tournament!"

"I heartily agree, Peter," Oobleck chipped in. "I can't wait to see how it ends."

* * *

 **Hope this helped with people's early morning CFVY. Yes, I did a little embellishment with the intos and 'pregame' to make it a little more like real life sporting events. Debating on whether or not to include a kiss cam at some point... And yes, I do believe that these schools would have fine arts. Why? Flynt Coal the trumpet and Neon Kat the drummer from** ** _Atlas._**

 **Also, hope that first section helped heal some of your ripped open hearts. Too bad we all know what happens later in Volume 3…**


	37. Round One

**People, I'm not dead, injured, or in trouble. I will admit though, I am an idiot for getting this up a day late. I did the last minute edits like normal...then Stellaris finished installing...That game really sucks up your time. I also got Grimm Eclipse in this steam sale, at that's fun too.**

 **Okay, after watching Civil War for the fourth time, I realized what I did. I made Ruby the Winter Soldier...** **Barbara, if you're somehow reading this, high five.  
**

 **Some of you may have noticed already that I did change the title of the story. I think this one fits much better.**

 **Last chapter you got your daily dose of CFVY, now it's time to pick out a gemstone...and that high five is gone...  
**

 **PCMN: persimmon**

* * *

"With that blast, team PCMN is victorious!" Port announced over the roar of the crowd.

Ruby stood up from her seat and punched the air. "Yeah! Way to go Penny!" The match that just ended was arguably more intense than CFVY's.

"Not a single knock-out on her team either," Blake commented. "They were really dialed in."

"I would expect nothing else from an Atlas team," Weiss said. "They're too militaristic for anything else."

"How does Penny do all _that?"_ Aaron asked, bewildered. He sighed. "I give up."

Yang let out a single laugh. "How'd I know you were going to say that?" Aaron scowled at the blonde.

Ruby looked at one of the clocks in the Colosseum. "Looks like I've got to go." She raised her newly rebuilt and reskinned right arm. "Got to get this thing powered down."

"See you in the tunnel, sis." Yang waved as Ruby walked away. The redhead walked through the main concourse toward the competitor access tunnel. She showed her ID to the security guard on duty, then entered the rarely seen hallways. That was actually her first time in them, and she'd have no idea where to go if there weren't signs everywhere.

After a few minutes of walking, Ruby found the small machine room where her arm would be powered down. A number of technicians were scattered throughout the room, probably working on keeping everything up and running and preparing for the next randomization. One of them looked in Ruby's direction. "Ah, miss Rose. Right on time." He gestured to a table in the corner of the room. "Please, take a seat."

Ruby did as she was told as she looked around the room. "So this is the control center for Amity?"

"Specifically for the field." The technician took a seat himself. "We make sure all the different biomes are ready to go at a moment's notice and supervise the repair of any damages taken during the fights."

The guy moved an odd looking machine from the right side of the table to the left. He opened the top of the hollow machine. "Here's what I'm going to do. Your bionic arm needs to be powered down in order to be legal in the tournament. In previous years, we powered limbs down to the average strength for a person's age. I'm sure you can see the problem in that." Ruby gave a sideways nod. Everyone was different, so it could give some people a significant advantage, and hinder others.

"Now, we're able to determine the exact muscle mass and determine the exact adjustments that need to be made to a bionic limb." The tech placed a hand on the machine. "Just put your left arm in this thing and the scan will start. There's one of these things under the table for your leg as well. Unfortunately, the whole process takes a while, which is why we called you down here a match earlier than your team."

Ruby rested her left arm in the machine and the tech closed the cover. She kicked off her left shoe and put that leg into the machine as well. There was a slight tingling in her arm and leg, but it wasn't painful at all. If anything it itched. "That's going to get annoying fast…"

"I've put my arm in there too to feel what others do. It's not the most pleasant feeling, but it's gone as soon as the process is over."

"Okay, new biomes coming up," someone else in the room called. Ruby looked over at the wall of screens. The live footage showed the introduction of team CRDL, but another screen showed the symbols two biomes. "Savannah and Caves are up."

Ruby cocked her head. "Wait, I thought the randomization was right before the match."

"We can't have all biomes directly underneath the arena at any given time," the tech explained. "We just throw everything into a random number generator while the introductions are made and the corresponding biomes into position before the holograms are shown."

Ruby's shoulders slumped. "So, no nanobots then?"

The tech laughed. "Not for at least another decade, I think, if not longer."

"Ah well…" Ruby turned back to look at the live footage. The cameras in the arena were doing their final sweeping pass before the 'randomization.' That was the first time Ruby saw CRDL's opponents. Two of them were Faunus, one of them sloked slightly familiar. Ruby clenched her fists as she watched the biomes rise to the surface. "Kick Cardin's but for me."

Port gave his countdown, then the two teams charged each other. Right from the start, Cardin and Dove were forced into the caves. The Faunus on the other team charged in after them. Ruby smirked. The two jerks would be routed quickly. The infrared cameras in the caves showed it in stunning detail. The two Faunus ran circles around the bullies. Cardin and Dove flailed their weapons, but only managed hitting each other. In fact, Cardin was the one to knock Dove out of the competition. The 'team killer' was then taken out by a blow to the face and the backs of his legs.

"Four to two. I like it." Ruby couldn't help but smile at that outcome.

The tech spoke up again, "Miss Rose, I don't think that there's a person in this room that wouldn't like to know how that works." He pointed at Ruby's left arm.

"And you'll have to wait even more. I'm still working out some problems. I had a bad experience with an electric shock about a week ago. Fried just about everything."

The tech nodded and the machines beeped. The covers popped open automatically and Ruby retracted her natural limbs. The tech grabbed a cord from the top machine. "Now, I just need to plug this into your arm's control panel and do the same for your leg."

Ruby rolled up her sleeve and popped open the hatch covering the panel. "I'll handle the one on my leg." The tech nodded, and his cheeks turned a little red. Whoever designed Atlas' standard issue bionics either had a sick mind or no knowledge of the human/Faunus anatomy. Then again, they were made with grown men in mind, not fifteen-year-old girls.

Ports voice once again entered the room. "Team CRDL wins the match!"

"What?" Ruby looked back at the screen. Sure enough, Russel and Sky were still standing, with the four members of the other team scattered around the central octagon. The Aura meters came up and showed that the two who still stood were both between fifteen and twenty percent. Then something happened that Ruby didn't expect. Sky helped one of the Faunus to her feet. He always did seem like the least racist of his team, but whether he did that through the kindness of his heart or if he was afraid of Ruby, Cerise, and the rest of her team was unknown.

The machines beeped again, and a red message appeared in the bottom right corner of Ruby's vision. "Ten percent strength? Why is it so high?"

The tech shrugged. "Maybe you're stronger than you think."

Ruby looked down at the metal table. "How much does this thing weigh?"

"I'd say probably about five hundred pounds." The tech motioned for Ruby to start without taking the machine off the table.

Ruby stood up and hooked her hands underneath the table. She pulled with her arms and pushed with her legs. No matter how hard she tried though, the table wouldn't budge. "Well, I'd say that it worked."

The tech smiled. "Good to hear. Now get out there and have a good fight."

"Thanks. I will." Ruby smiled, then walked out of the room. She headed for the weapon claiming room. Weapons weren't allowed in the stands, so competitors had to call their rocket lockers from the ground to the Colosseum. It apparently was a slow process at times, but no one ever went to battle without their own weapon.

Ruby entered the room and saw the team that just lost to team CRDL putting their weapons away. They looked exhausted, but not dejected. "Nice fight out there guys," Ruby said, announcing her presence.

One of the Faunus members of the team looked back and smiled. "Thanks." He then blinked rapidly and his mouth dropped open slightly. "Wait, you're…you're Ruby Rose!" The other Faunus looked up from her locker.

This time, Ruby blinked in surprise. She still wasn't used to people she didn't know knowing who she was. It happened plenty of times since she rescued Violet, then more after Hound News got the leak, but it still wasn't expected. "Yes, I am."

The female Faunus ran around the table in the center of the room and brought Ruby into a bear hug. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" That went on for a few seconds, and Ruby awkwardly returned the hug.

"Come on Rosie, let her breathe," the first Faunus said. Rosie held on for another few seconds, then finally let go.

"I take it you knew someone?" Ruby asked cautiously.

Rosie nodded. "My boyfriend's little sister was in the warehouse downtown. He was going crazy here, and I couldn't help at all since I was at Haven."

Ruby nodded. "Glad I could help." She narrowed her eyes slightly. Rosie looked _very_ familiar. "Wait a second, Rosie Anderson?"

"I'd tell you to tell Yang I said hi, but I think I can do that myself in a few minutes." Rosie smirked.

"More like a few seconds." Ruby didn't need to turn around to know her sister just entered the room. Yang gently pushed Ruby aside and hugged her old friend herself. "I've missed you so much, I can't _bear_ it!"

Rosie rolled her eyes then punched Yang in the side. "I think that's a record."

"I try." Yang let her friend go. "So how you been?"

As the two friends caught up, Ruby worked on calling her locker. For safety reasons, competitors couldn't call in their weapons using their scrolls. Amity Colosseum had a built in system to retrieve lockers safely, and at a much slower speed. Ruby typed her information into the right console.

The sound of a rocket starting and shooting filled the room, quickly followed by Yang yelling, "Hey, where are you going?"

Ruby turned around to see all the girls on her team looking out the door and Rosie nowhere in sight. "What just happened?"

"No offense," Rosie's Faunus partner said, "but I think _she_ happened." He pointed right at Weiss.

"Me?" Weiss brought a hand to her chest. "What did I…" She paused then hung her head. "Oh."

"Hey, Weiss isn't like that," Yang defended. "She'd never hurt a Faunus."

"Never?" the guy scoffed. "Weren't all of you fighting the White Fang in downtown Vale last month?"

"That's different." Yang clenched her fists.

The guy sighed. "I know, just never say never. Things can change." He turned around and pushed a button on his rocket locker and it soared out of the room. It was quickly followed by two others. Soon after, the other team left the room.

Ruby sighed "Well that could have gone better."

"Geez, I knew she wanted to be treated like everyone else, but I don't know she'd have a grudge against Weiss." Yang shook her head.

"I know her," Blake whispered.

Ruby cocked her head. "You didn't grow up on Patch or go to Sanctum, so how…oh." The room was silent for a few seconds, until Ruby's rocket locker shot in and hit the sandbag wall.

"Rosie? She's-" Yang started.

 _Cameras!_ Ruby thought to her sister. Yang quickly shut her mouth, then looked out the door again.

Blake sighed. "Yes, though she wasn't as…fanatical as others."

"She's not still…" Weiss let the thought hang.

"I don't know. She still was when I left."

Weiss looked between Yang and Ruby. "Could one of you-"

"No," Ruby interrupted. "Except under certain conditions, we mostly just skim the base emotions of people, which we can normally tell by looking at people's faces. Anything else would be an invasion of privacy of the highest degree." Yang shifted uncomfortably on her feet.

"Oh well," Weiss sighed. "As long as she doesn't try anything." She entered her one code into the wall console and called her rapier. Yang and Blake did the same thing. Shortly afterward, three more rocket lockers slammed into the sandbag wall.

Team RWBY all grabbed their weapons. Crescent Rose felt slightly awkward and heavier in Ruby's hands. It must have been her arm being powered down. As far as she could tell, Yang had no excuse for acting strangely. She armed her gauntlets as far away from Ruby as she could, and never met her eyes either. _Yang, what's wrong?_ Ruby asked. Even from the relatively thin connection, she could feel the guilt in her sister's mind. _This isn't about Rosie, is it?_

… _Not really. There is that, but it's more what you said._ Ruby cocked her head. Yang wasn't making sense. _I know the situations started out different, but I've been invading your head for a while now._

 _Yang, you said yourself I'm not right in the head._

 _Starting out and around all those triggers, yeah, but most of the time you're fine. I haven't even been needed most of that time, and I've seen things in your head I can't unsee._

Ruby blushed slightly. _It's not like you've seen anything that you'd beat anyone up over._

 _No, but I didn't need to know about all the guy you had a crush on at Signal._ Yang paused in her thoughts. _I'm sorry, I've gotten overprotective. I've changed the way you think about some things, whether you know it or not._ _Seriously Ruby, anytime, for any reason, you can come in my head, even if you're just curious._

 _I probably won't take you up on that offer, but thanks anyway._ Ruby took her eyes off her sister and looked at the clock on the wall. "Okay guys, let's get going. We have come butts to kick."

"I wouldn't put it like that," Weiss started, "but we do have a match to win." The team left the locker room and made their way toward the arena entrance tunnel. A few staff members there told them to stay out of view of the stage. So the team waited for the current match to end.

Ruby could have sworn she heard music coming from the bowl. _Cerise, What's going on out there?_

 _One team has a very unique fighting style. Three of them are using musical instruments and the other nunchucks. It's almost like they're performing a concert while fighting._

 _Really? That's different._ Ruby leaned her head against the wall. _Do you know if Yang has messed with the way I think?_

 _There was a time when you thought about Aaron being more than a friend in the back of your head._

Ruby fake gagged, earning some stares from her teammates. _Aaron? Are you serious? Let me guess, happened while we were dancing and right afterward._

 _And that night in Mountain Glen. After that, well, you had other things on your mind, but even that shouldn't have made it disappear completely._

 _We're teammates and have only known each other for a few months. This isn't some sappy animated love story where two people fall in love and get engaged in that time._

 _If I recall, your parents were teammates._

Ruby looked up to where Cerise lay and messed up her face. _Are you trying to tell me something?_

 _I'm just telling you one thing I've seen change in you that could possibly have happened due to Yang's interference._

 _Well please don't. I'm not looking for a boyfriend, and I don't think I will be any time soon._ Ruby shook her head. She expected Nora or Yang to pressure her into a relationship with someone, not Cerise.

A few minutes later, Ruby heard the roar of the crowd. The fight must have ended. Shortly after that, the biomes retracted back into the floor. Ruby was about to walk forward, but was again stopped by one of the staff.

One of the teams that just finished fighting walked past team RWBY. One of them tipped their fedora. "Ladies." He continued on without saying anything else. No other person on the team said anything, though one of them did look at Yang for a while.

"Trumpet, trombone, saxophone, nunchucks?" Weiss listed off the team's weapons. "That's an odd combination."

"I'm guessing the nunchucks can be used as drumsticks." Yang watched the team walk away, then shuddered. "Anyone else think she was sizing me up?"

Ruby shrugged. "I don't see what else it could have been."

One of the staff members signaled team RWBY forward. "Just don't step out of the tunnel until both teams are announced."

Ruby gave the man a thumbs up. "Will do." She led her team forward and stopped just under the tunnel overhang. The team leader looked out into the bowl. "That's a lot of people." Her voice quivered.

"Don't worry about it." Yang put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Just imagine everyone wearing their underwear."

"Ugh, are you trying to help me or creep me out?"

 _How is that good advice?_ Cerise asked, her confusion flowing off her.

 _I don't know. That was common advice back in elementary school before I went to Signal, but it never worked._

"Now introducing the next combatants!" Port said over the Colosseum speakers. "Team ABRN of Haven and team RWBY of Beacon!"

"Here we go," Ruby mumbled, then stepped out into the arena. All the people around the bowl burst into cheers and applause. Random camera flashes came from every direction. Up on the roof, Cerise and Halcyon lightly roared. Two of the four screens showed team ABRN and the others focused on RWBY.

The two teams walked onto the central octagon. When the crowd calmed down, Oobleck introduced the members of team ABRN. The cameras and screens again went through the routine of showing off the team's fans. Port spoke up after the audience fell silent. "And now, introducing team RWBY!"

Ruby was not expecting the wall of sound that came out of the stands. For a first year team, she expected polite applause from everyone besides the Beacon section, not louder than the reigning champions. She wasn't exactly sure if she liked it.

"Fifth team member and non-combatant, Aaron Benson!" The screens showed Aaron with a hand deep in a bag of cotton candy. He looked up like a deer in the headlights and quickly took his hand out of the bag. Recovering quickly, he brought a hand to his hat and gently lifted it off. There were plenty of laughs mixed in with the cheers.

"Now the combatants, Yang Xiao Long!" Yang raised her fists in the air for the wall of cheers. Halcyon roared again, then looked back down at his Rider. Yang gave him a thumbs up. "Blake Belladonna!" Blake raised a single hand and smiled at the crowd. "Weiss Schnee!" The heiress straightened up and princess waved at the crowd.

"The leader of team RWBY, Ruby Rose!" Ruby raised her left hand, with Crescent Rose in its travel form. She hit the right button, and her weapon expended to its full scythe form. If the crowd wasn't going crazy before, they were now. Cerise roared loudly, then gave Ruby her best attempt at a smile.

The screens once again moved through fans. Again, for a first year team, there were plenty of imitators in the crowd. Ruby didn't see any copies of her hood while she was in the stands, but there were several shown on the screen. Others wore long blonde wigs to imitate Yang. Weiss and Blake had their fair share of fans too.

Then the screen showed a group of Faunus. Ruby gasped and brought a hand to her mouth. None of them had both their ears or antlers. The tails she could see were cut short. It was a group of Faunus from Nevermore's northern base. They held up a sign saying 'We love you Ruby!'

Ruby spun around and searched the crowd for the group. _Cerise, where are they?_

Weiss bumped Ruby's arm. "I think that's them." She pointed into the crowd. Ruby followed her partner's finger and looked into the stands. Sure enough, a few rows back from the competitor's section.

Ruby smiled at them. She brought a fist to her chest, then pointed at the group with two fingers. "This one's for you!" she shouted. She turned back to look at her opponents, who were all nodding their approval.

The randomization holograms appeared around the arena and began spinning. One side ended on a volcano. Yang pumped a fist. The other landed on a glacier. Weiss smirked. The floor around the octagon pulled away and the two opposite biomes rose to the surface.

Both teams fell into fighting positions. Ruby looked to her left at her team. They all looked pumped and ready to go. The leader smirked. This was going to be a good battle. _Good luck, my Gem!_ Cerise called.

Port began the countdown. "Three, two, one," Ruby braced her legs, "begin!"

"Freezerburn!" Ruby aimed the business end of Crescent Rose at Nadir and fired. She flew backward into the volcanic biome and watched as her opening attack made contact. Blake back flipped out of the octagon. Yang jumped into the air as Weiss plunged Myrtenaster into the floor. The whole octagon froze up, then Yang slammed a fist down on top of the ice sheet.

Ruby spun her scythe around her. "Pick your targets. Stay in each other's sight." She dug the tip of Crescent Rose into the ground and looked down the scope. It switched to thermal to see through the fog. She tracked Nadir through the fog and fired several shots at him. He dodged most of them and made it through to fire shots at Ruby himself.

The team leader took her scythe out of the ground and angled it behind her. She fired and shot herself forward. When she was within striking distance, she swung as hard as she could at her opponent. It turns out though that her swing wasn't as strong or fast as she remembered. That threw her off balance when her weapon made contact. Ruby stumbled as her feet once again made contact with the ground. The power down affected her more than she thought.

Ruby turned around to see Nadir aiming his rifle right at her. She spun Crescent Rose in front of her to deflect the incoming bullets. Again, she was slower than she wanted to be and several of the rounds made it through. One hit the bottom of her good leg and knocked it out from under her. Ruby fell to the ground, unable to right herself.

Nadir seized the advantage and switched his weapon from an assault rifle to sword form. He ran and Ruby, who was still trying to get off the hot ground. She raised Crescent Rose to defend herself, but her grip on it wasn't as strong as it should have been. Nadir knocked the scythe away, leaving Ruby defenseless.

The girl would have frozen up if she didn't have to dodge the attacks. The last time Ruby didn't have a weapon to use was when she fell into Mountain Glen. Sure, the situation wasn't as serious as then, but it still brought up painful memories. Ruby glanced past Nadir into the crowd, where her Faunus fan club sat. That was all the encouragement she needed.

On Nadir's next swing, Ruby stepped inside the strike, then elbowed her opponent in the face. Next she kicked the guy's legs out from under him. As he fell, Ruby snatched her opponent's sword gun from his hands. She swung the sword at Nadir's side before throwing it away on purpose. Then she ran to pick up her own weapon from where it fell.

Once Crescent Rose was back in Ruby's hands, she focused back on Nadir. He was struggling to get off the ground, and he was close to the edge of the stage. Seeing her own fight won, Ruby sprinted at Nadir. She spun herself around to add strength to her attack, then hooked her opponent in her scythe. He went with the spin once before he flew out of Ruby's attack and out of the battlefield.

Ruby stood panting as the buzzer sounded. "My, what a turn of events that was," Dr. Oobleck said over the speakers. Ruby rolled her eyes, then looked around the battle field for her teammates.

Yang looked like she was taking care of Arslan. Weiss traded strikes with Bolin, with Weiss pushing the other back. As Ruby watched, she saw Blake kick Reese off the stage. Ruby smirked. This battle was going well.

Figuring she wouldn't be the best at fighting up close, Ruby climbed up a rock pile to gain a height advantage on her opponents. She dug Crescent Rose into the rock again, then took aim at Bolin. When Weiss gave her leader an opening, a Burn Dust round shot out of the sniper and hit the guy in the chest. Weiss looked back at Ruby and nodded. Ruby continued to fire whenever she had an opening.

After a little while, Ruby saw how close the two separate fights were getting. The two remaining members of ABRN could be easily surrounded, and possibly taken out by one good punch from Yang. The team leader decided that would probably the fastest way to end the fight. Instead of focusing on Bolin's chest, Ruby fired at specific points around his body that would force him toward Arslan and Yang.

Apparently Weiss saw what Ruby was doing and switched spots with Blake. The heiress ran over to help Yang move Arslan to a more favorable position for her plan. Ruby continued firing and eventually both fights moved to the same area in the glacier biome. One good shot from Ruby blasted Bolin into his leader.

Weiss waved Myrtenaster in a circular swing and created a large ice ramp. Yang shot Ember Celica behind her and skated around the ramp. Blake tossed Yang half of Gambol Shroud and pulled, speeding up the blonde. Weiss created a propulsion glyph under Blake and launched her forward. In the air, Blake pulled on her weapon, using the ribbon to slingshot Yang forward. The blonde hit both remaining members of ABRN and sent them flying back into the volcanic biome.

Seeing the two unwilling projectiles heading right toward her, Ruby jumped off her perch and over the human bullets. Arslan and Bolin slammed right into where RWBY's leader stood only milliseconds before. The buzzer sounded, signaling the final defeat of team ABRN. The crowd burst into cheers and the dragons gave a roar of approval. "Team RWBY wins the match!" Port announced over the speakers.

RWBY grouped up in the center of the octagon. "We…did it?" Weiss asked hesitantly.

Ruby looked at the Aura board and the rest of the crowd. Excitement built up inside her. "We did it!"

"One down, four to go!" Yang pumped a fist.

"I can't even be mad about that!" Ruby looked up at the screen for the highlight reel as the biomes retreated into the floor. The first thing up was her unarmed fight with Nadir. At first, she looked terrified and she dodged Nadir's strikes. After a while though, her face hardened again and proceeded to do her close up beat down.

"Dang, Rubes." Yang clapped her sister on the back. "I didn't know you could do that."

Ruby shrugged. "Neither did I."

 _I did!_ Cerise called down from the roof. _You've been thinking about how to attack while unarmed since Mountain Glen. You just never had the opportunity to put it into practice. You did it perfectly._

"How about my trick on Reese?" Blake asked as she gestured toward one of the screens.

"If it works, it's good." Ruby stared walking off the stage with her team right behind her.

 _Don't forget the MVP!_ Halcyon cheered from up top. _Yang took out two with one punch!_ Yang looked up at Halcyon and gave him another thumbs up.

"That was a team effort," Weiss said.

"Don't spoil my moment, Ice Queen." Yang glared at Weiss. The team walked out of the arena, and talked about various parts of the fight until they reached their lockers.

"If we get access to the replays, we'll go over it after the tournament is over." Ruby gently placed her weapon in her locker, then sent it on its way. She waited until the rest of her team did the same before speaking again. "Okay, we're going to the next round, but only two of us get to go on."

Yang sighed as she left the locker room. "Yeah. I wasn't looking forward to this."

"We should probably put it to a vote." Ruby walked in front of her team, then stopped. She turned back to face them. "First off, who wants to go on?"

"Put me on the ballot," Yang said.

"I wouldn't mind going on either." Weiss shrugged as she spoke. Blake stayed silent, and so did Ruby.

"Oh. We didn't even need to vote."

Yang raised her eyebrows. "Really Ruby? You've been dreaming about this your whole life." She winced after what she said.

Ruby raised her right arm. "You can't really see it in a replay, but I was out of sync with these things powered down. I'm not at one hundred percent right now. I'd just hold whoever else back."

Yang slumped her shoulders and smiled sadly. "If you say so. There's always two years from now in Vacuo."

"There's that too." Ruby turned to Blake. "Mind if you ask why you don't want to go on?"

Blake's bow twitched. "I'd rather not have this thing come off in front of thousands of people." Ruby gave a sideways nod. Blake still didn't want the general public to know that she was a Faunus, and they applied to the tournament too early for Aaron to take her place.

"Okay. Why don't we pick up Aaron and head to the fairgrounds? The food's a lot cheaper down there."

* * *

 **Yep, team RWBY is known for taking down the Nevermores north of Vale, and while nothing is confirmed yet, people think they had a hand at Fort Castle too. 2+2=Fish and all that. That's why they got the wall of sound.**


	38. Cool Down

**How do you like this happier tone? I for one like it, and am dreading writing what comes around during episode six.**

 **I didn't notice this last week, but last chapter technically put this thing over 200,000 words. That's 2 full length books! But with author's notes and all that, I'd say 210,00 is the official breaking point.**

 **Now the state of the story. I'd guess we're within ten chapters of the end...of what I'm calling Act I. The backlog I have right now is kind of all over the place. I have 3 more chapters directly after this one written and 4 1/2 chapters of Act II. As for what's coming up, some things you'll see coming, others you won't, one thing I think will cause some of you to threaten to orbital bombard my hometown just to make sure I'm dead. The end point is still nowhere in sight, at least another 100,000 words to go.**

 **Thank you all for your support.**

* * *

"Is anybody else starving?" Ruby asked while letting her arms hang in front of her.

"I may have worked up an appetite," Blake said. Her stomach growled loudly. She covered her stomach and blushed slightly.

Aaron smirked. "I could still go for something to eat."

Yang stared at Aaron with an open mouth. "You ate how many buckets of popcorn, and a bag of cotton candy, and you're still hungry?"

"I think I had two refills." Yang's jaw dropped even more.

"Gee, if only there were somewhere on campus to get food around here," Weiss drawled. "Oh wait."

"It's okay, Weiss. I forget about the fairgrounds too." Ruby put a hand on her partner's shoulder. Aaron crossed his arms and looked at the two. Even he could tell Weiss was being sarcastic.

"I was being facetious." Weiss shrugged Ruby off.

"Well, if you were hungry, why didn't you say so?" Ruby threw her hands in the air as she spoke.

"C'mon! I know just the place." Yang waved the team forward, then looked at Aaron. "Seriously though, you might want to cut back. Even I know that much food can't be healthy."

 _She's right, you know,_ Nalia scolded. _You're eating so much I'd think you were the dragon._

"Thank you for taking my side, Nalia." Yang turned to where Nalia rested outside the fairgrounds. Aaron looked in that direction as well. As he walked by the line of tents as temporary shops, he saw people of all ages lining up to take pictures with at least one of the three dragons down on the ground. One problems all dragons had was their vanity, especially the Brightscales. They ate up any chance to get attention. This was their first real time in public, so people wanted to meet some of the ones who helped the take down the Nevermores. Plus, the dragons just looked cool.

The moment before he was going to face forward though, he caught sight of a couple of people with 'wings' that attached their arms to their sides. They also had black and white spikes on their backs and tails. It was all fake of course but it was still an interesting sight.

"Something wrong?" Weiss asked. Aaron turned to face the heiress. She also fell behind the rest of the team.

"There are a couple of people dressed as Cerise, and...I'm guessing Nalia." Aaron walked to catch up with the rest of his team. "I've saw people on the screens up in the Colosseum dressed as some of the competitors, but I didn't expect people to dress up as the dragons."

Weiss shrugged. "Imitation is the best form of flattery. I'm sure they don't mind too much." The feeling Aaron got off Nalia confirmed that.

When Aaron and Weiss caught up with the rest of the team, Ruby stiffened up, but kept walking. "Don't look right, people." Curious, Aaron sent his eyes in that direction. He lightly scowled when he saw Mercury and Emerald. While Nalia outed Emerald as the egg thief, Mercury had to have some sort of involvement. Those two were too close for Mercury not to know what was going on.

Yang led the way to a noodle shop near the center of the fairgrounds. "Nice to have a palate cleanser after that." She took a seat at the bar. "I'll have a bowl of the regular, please." The old man working at the shop slid a large bowl of noodles at the blonde.

"Ooooh. I'll take the same." Another bowl slid in front of Ruby. She looked ecstatic about it.

"These come drenched in butter?" Aaron asked the old man. He simply nodded, and Aaron smirked. "I'll take some of that." As expected, another bowl slid to a stop in front of him.

"Do you have anything with low salt? Weiss asked, but another bowl came to a halt in front of her.

Blake's turn came, but she just nodded. The old man disappeared into the back room. There was a little bit of a sizzling noise in the back, then a flash came out of the other door. A bowl of noodles with a ton of fish on top was left in from of Blake. The Faunus started drooling and her eyes practically turned to stars.

Weiss took out a credit card and the old man took it. Yang leaned slightly over the bar. "Aww Weiss! What's the occasion?"

"Consider it thanks for sending me to the doubles round." Weiss' card spun through the air and crashed into the bar, slightly splitting it. The whole team looked at the old man, who pointed at a screen that said declined. "What? How can my card be declined? I was barely into my monthly allowance."

The old man took Blake's bowl from her. She fell onto the bar. "Nooo…."

Aaron scratched his head. "Forget that, didn't you keep most of the Nevermore reward money?"

"That's in a different account, but this has never happened before."

"Maybe I could help?" All of team RWBY looked over to team JNPR, with Pyrrha holding a card of her own in her hand.

"Pyrrha!" Ruby shouted, throwing her hands in the air again.

"Aw, you don't have to!" Yang waved Pyrrha off.

"But she could!" Blake begged.

Aaron rolled his eyes at Blake, then turned back to Pyrrha. "Seriously, Pyrrha, you don't have to. It's not like none of us are flat broke."

"Well, I think you all earned it after that battle." Pyrrha didn't back down

"Mind if we join you?" Jaune asked.

Aaron stuck out a finger. "Expect the same treatment from us after your match." Blake's bowl reappeared in front of her, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Shortly afterward, JNPR got their own bowls and everyone dug in. About halfway through his own bowl, Aaron started to feel sick. The problem was the food was so good he couldn't stop.

When he finally reached the bottom, he felt he was going to lose all of it. Aaron let his head fall to the bar. "Ugh, why'd I do this."

 _I told you that was a bad idea,_ Nalia sent her amusement over her mental link. _You'll find no sympathy from me._

 _Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile._ Aaron groaned on the bar. He felt a small hand land on his back

"Yang warned ya," Ruby chimed. "You didn't have to do that."

"Are you sure it's wise to have eaten before a fight?" Ren asked his team.

"Of course. It will give us energy," Pyrrha said, right before a huge burp from Nora.

 _I heard that!_ Halcyon called, gaining a huge smile from Nora.

Jaune, however, wasn't having a good time. "Ugh, if I barf I'm blaming you."

"Oh! Aim it at the enemy!" Nora had a look of determination on her face. Just the thought of seeing that sent another wave of nausea wash over Aaron.

"Nora! That's disgusting," Ren scolded. "But if you do feel the urge..."

"Got it." Jaune stuck a thumb up.

Pyrrha stood up from her stool. "Well, we should be off."

"So, you think you guys are ready?" Ruby asked.

"Of course!" Nora chirped. "We've got a world-renowned fighter on our team, what's basically a ninja, I can bench five of me…Jaune, we've trained all year, our weapons are awesome, Glynda barely yells at us anymore, and uh...Jaune!"

"Are you gonna take that?" Ren asked his team's leader.

"She's not wrong," Jaune moaned into the bar.

Aaron raised his head from his arms for a second. "Not all leaders are the best fighters." He once again buried his head in his arms.

Nora gestured at Aaron. "See? He knows what's going on." She looked back at Jaune. "Don't be so nervous! The worst that could happen is we lose! Then it's just a few more years of walking around school with everyone knowing we're failures, our friends will slowly abandon us to preserve their social status, we won't be able to show our faces in class, no one will sit with us in the cafeteria, Ren and I have no parents, we have no home left to go to…"

Aaron's head shot up off the bar. Nora continued speaking for a few more lines, but Aaron didn't hear. He didn't know Ren and Nora didn't have any parents. They always acted, well, not _exactly_ normal. Then again, people coped in different ways, and that typically stayed for life.

Nora's head slammed back down onto the bar, breaking Aaron out of his trance. Pyrrha put a hand on two of her teammates shoulders. "Don't fret. If anything, we should be looking forward to a fight with actual guidelines and not, well, murderers."

"Yeah, don't sweat it!" Yang said. "We've all faced way worse before."

"Let's see," Blake put up a hand, "Grimm invasions, violent extremists, a destructive sociopath, the Nevermores."

Ruby planted both her hands on the bar. "And that's all while we were still in training! Oh, imagine what it'll be like when we graduate!"

The intercom speakers in the area crackled to life. "Would Team JNPR please report to the battle grounds immediately," Port said.

"Yes! Like they were scheduled to several minutes ago," Oobleck finished.

"Well, it looks like this is it." Pyrrha led her team away from the noodle shop.

"Go get 'em!" Ruby called, then turned back to her team. "We still have a few minutes before we need to get to our transport. What should we do in the meantime?"

 _How about you, Yang, and Aaron come over here?_ Cerise called. A strange form of happiness rolled of her.

All of team RWBY looked to where the dragons lay. "What's going on? Is dad here again?" The dragon gave no answer.

Aaron focused his mind on Nalia. _What's going on?_

 _Let's just say you have some fans over here._ Nalia didn't give anything away either.

Aaron sighed, then looked to Ruby. "We should probably check this out."

Ruby nodded. "Weiss, Blake, you can do your own thing if you want. The three of us are going to check on our dragons."

* * *

All the way to the dragons, Ruby wondered what got Cerise so excited. The last time the dragon got that kind of excited was when Taiyang came for a surprise visit. Ruby thought her dad would let her know if he was actually at the festival, and Uncle Qrow wasn't around, and wouldn't be for a while. She didn't have any other family that could get Cerise that excited.

Ruby rounded a corner and stopped in her tracks. Even though she saw them on the screens in the stadium, she didn't expect her Faunus fan club to be crawling all over Cerise, in some cases literally.

Cerise lifted her head and looked right into her Rider's eyes. She hummed and all the Faunus kids around her looked right at Ruby. The Rider stiffened up for a second. _You don't need to say anything fancy,_ Cerise said. _Just be yourself._

Ruby put on an awkward smile and raised a hand for a small wave. "Hi."

A few of the kids hid behind others or one of Cerise' legs, but not from fear. Others smiled and ran up to Ruby. The Rider knelt down to meet two of them. They ran into Ruby's outstretched arms as she wrapped them up. Another two ran over to the other two Riders. Ruby tried to pull away, but the kids held on.

Luckily, one of the parents came to her rescue. "Okay Ecru, let her breathe." One of the girls let go almost immediately, the other held on for another few seconds.

Ruby looked around at the circle that was forming around her, Yang, and Aaron. So many familiar faces, yet she wished that they weren't. They were all burned into the back of her head. But if she could help them in any way, she would. "How have you all been doing?"

Instantly, several of them started talking at once. Ruby couldn't follow any one person, but she heard bits and pieces from all of them. Apparently one of them got a personal bodyguard group of students at her school, some of them big athletes. Another got whatever food they wanted since being freed. One of the two Faunus boys from the base apparently got a 'monster gaming PC.' The things that mattered to kids made Ruby smile, and almost wish for those simpler times.

Ruby looked up past the kids and at the adults around the circle. Some of them were shifting on their feet and looked like they had some words on their minds. "Hey guys," Ruby looked back at the kids, "I think I'm going to need to have a talk with all your parents. Why don't you all go play with Cerise and the other dragons for a bit?"

In response to that, Cerise hummed and unceremoniously rolled onto her back, her legs sticking up in the air. Ruby had to hold back a laugh. Her dragon looked like a cat that wanted her belly rubbed. Some of the kids squealed in delight, and all walked or ran over to the dragons.

Well, all but one. Ruby felt a tug on her cape, and she looked over to see a deer Faunus missing one of her ears. "Can you do something about this?" she asked while pointing to the nub on her head.

Ruby's throat constricted. That was what she wanted to do the most, to help all those kids feel normal again. She still couldn't believe that she took the chance of getting new skin for herself without thinking about the others who lost parts of themselves. The Rider looked up at Aaron. _How close are you?_

Aaron barely shook his head. _Close, but not close enough to try. Before the year is out for sure._

Ruby turned back to the girl in front of her, smiled, then put her natural hand on the girl's shoulder. "We're working on a way to get your ear back now. I really wish it was ready now, but we won't do it until we know it's safe. I can't say exactly when, but you should have it back by the end of the year."

The girl's shoulders slumped. "But that one girl on the street. She had both her ears when you left."

The Rider's smile faded. How could she explain that without giving anything away? She had an idea, and quickly ran it by Aaron before speaking again. "Dragons have strange Aura. They don't have a normal Semblance like the rest of us. It changes depending on the needs and situation. It almost never can do the same thing twice. At the time, Cerise thought that was the best way to help. She didn't know about any others at the time."

Off to the side Cerise hummed and twisted her neck so her head would be right side up. It was the best she could manage to look serious while on her back with kids crawling over her. _I wish I could help, but I physically can't._

The girl nodded slowly, then hugged Ruby herself. She let go shortly afterward, then walked over to who were presumably her parents. Ruby sighed, stood up, and looked over at the other two Riders. _How'd I do?_

Yang cocked her head slightly. _How were you able to say that? I thought you swore not to reveal that stuff._

 _She never said anything about magic,_ Aaron answered, _and she didn't exactly lie either._

 _Thanks._ Ruby turned to the older crowd. _Now for round two._ The group of parents approached the three Riders. Brief introductions were made and there were handshakes all around.

"You didn't all know each other before this happened, did you?" Yang asked after the introductions.

"Oh no," one of the mothers said. "Most of us met when the _Vytal_ came to Vale. I knew the Robinsons though." She gestured to another two parents.

Ruby nodded, then her head sunk between her shoulders. "I take it you were told by your kids about really happened in there?"

"No one here's said anything if that's what you're asking," another man said. "No one likes having that kind of media attention. It took them way too long to get off our backs."

Aaron looked over to the kids climbing all over the dragons. "How are they, really?"

None of the parents spoke for a few seconds. "Most of the same stuff. Nightmares, flinching at shadows, needing childhood comfort blankets."

"Ecru has her bodyguards because she was bullied at her school before all this happened," another mother said while rubbing her arm. "The friends she had at the time grouped up around her and brought in a few of their friends. None of them want to see this happen again."

"I think that makes all of us," Ruby stated. From there, the conversation turned to the parents telling the Riders if there was anything any of them needed to call them, and a few shop owners said that anyone on team RWBY could get special discounts. Ruby took notes on her bionic eye on these places, not for the special treatment, but to make sure she supported the right people.

"Uh guys," Yang eventually spoke up, "I think we're missing JNPR's fight right now."

Ruby looked up toward Amity Colosseum. They had been on the ground for quite a while now. She turned her head back toward the dragons. "Okay, we have to go now!" she called to all the kids. There were a few groans, then Cerise slowly turned to her side. The kids around her jumped off and walked to a safe distance. Ruby climbed up her dragon's leg and into the saddle. As she settled in, she waved to those on the ground. "It was nice meting you all for real!" Cerise raised her wings then slammed them down. The red dragon rose into the air, with green and gold right behind her.

The sky around Amity Colosseum was fairly clear of transports, as was expected when a fight was going on or about to begin. Because of this, the dragons didn't have to dodge around as many obstacles on the flight up. However, since there was a fight going on, the Riders may not be able to get back to their seats. So instead of their dragons letting them off at the normal spot, they flew to the roof with their Riders.

Cerise landed lightly on the outside edge of the roof and almost directly behind Vert. The other dragons landed nearby and their Riders dismounted. Ruby heard cheers coming from inside the bowl, and a large explosion. She hesitantly walked to the inside edge and looked over the side. "That's a long way down _…_ " She wobbled unsteadily on her feet.

"There's a force field there." Yang walked over to Ruby's side. "It's not like we haven't been higher."

"We're strapped into the saddles, and I trust Cerise to handle the wind."

"If you say so, Velvet." Yang gently punched her sister's shoulder. Ruby squeaked, then shoved Yang away.

Vert looked over slightly. _I can see my Rider being intimidated by this height, not you._

Cerise walked to her Rider's side and wrapped her tail around Ruby. _Now you have a railing. Feel better?_

Ruby rolled her eyes, "Yes, thank you." She leaned on her dragon's tail and looked down into the arena. There wasn't much motion down there, if there was any. JNPR and BRNZ, as they were called on the Aura board, were standing in two different circles near the central octagon. If anything, JNPR looked like they were talking amongst themselves. Ruby looked over at Vert. "Any idea what they're doing?"

 _This just started._ The youngest dragon cocked his head. _They were fighting up until you landed._ The screens showed one of the members of BRNZ shouting at JNPR. The crowd started booing at the lack of action. Jaune laid his forehead on the flat of his blade, then gestured to Nora. The hyperactive girl shot forward and hit all of team BRNZ with one swing of her hammer. They all hit the same section of the force field outside of the combat area.

The speakers in the Colosseum cracked to life. "And with that, it appears Team JNPR wins by knockout. Literally!" Port announced. "Can someone go make sure they're okay?"

"I know how that feels." Yang rolled her shoulders.

"I know Nora is strong," Aaron started, "but how can she do that?"

"Nora's Semblance is electricity channeling," Ruby explained. "Judging by that mountain, and that burning part of the forest, she got charged up a lot." The highlight replay proved that theory. Nora climbed up to the top of the mountain and lifted her hammer above her head. Lightning struck the metal, then Nora launched several more grenades than normal at a sniper in the forest.

Aaron sighed. "Why am I surprised? Things here just get weirder and weirder. I swear, a few people here could take out armies back in Alagaësia."

 _If there weren't any magicians in the ranks, anyway,_ Nalia added. The biomes retracted into the floor, and JNPR left the center stage. BRNZ also limped out of the arena.

"The Vytal Festival Tournament has always celebrated the young Huntsmen and Huntresses," Oobleck said over the speakers. "These young people often go on to lead long and productive lives while protecting those on Remnant. Unfortunately, even the strongest can fall."

"At this time," Port continued, "we would like to recognize past competitors and victors who gave their lives protecting the people of Remnant."

Ruby stiffened up as she watched the screens fade to black. She slowly turned to Yang. "Did you know they did this?"

"No." Yang shook her head. "They should really show some if this stuff on TV." Somber music played over the speakers as the video started. At first, whole teams were shown, as the first tournaments were eighty years ago. If any of them had family in the audience, they were shown in the bottom left corner. Yang dutifully took her place by her sister's side.

Then Summer Rose' smiling face appeared on the screens. The years 2148-2175 appeared in yellow letters under her picture, the words 'Thus Kindly I Scatter' underneath that. The bottom left corner of the screens showed Yang with an arm around Ruby's shoulders. The younger sister was smiling and had a few tears running down her face.

As quickly as the picture appeared, it moved onto the next Huntsman. Ruby used an arm to dry her face. "Well, that happened."

Yang's arm wrapped around Ruby slightly tighter. "You're taking all this a little too well. You're not penning it up again, are you?"

"Not intentionally." Ruby looked into one of Cerise' eyes. _I'm not, am I?_

 _My Gem, you're using it,_ Cerise hummed. _There's nothing wrong with thinking about yourself. On top of that, you're trying to find meaning in things, and trying to figure out how you can better help others. If I ever think that you're holding it in, I will tell you._

"And now the last fight of the day," Port announced. "Team SSSN of Haven versus team NDGO of Shade!" The two teams walked in from either side of the arena toward the central octagon. They all waved at the crowd in their own ways. Ruby looked down to where her two other teammates should be sitting in the stands. They were clapping politely, but Ruby didn't need to be in their heads to know they were silently cheering for two guys in particular.

After the team introductions, Port made the announcement for TV. Down on the stage, Neptune pointed a finger gun at the girls of NDGO. Ruby looked back in the stands to see Weiss on her feet pointing at the arena. "I think Neptune just messed up," Ruby said.

"Weiss will get over it, after she knocks some sense into him." Yang walked over to Halcyon and sat on one of his paws.

 _I've never understood two-leg mating rituals,_ Nalia mused.

"Well we probably wouldn't understand a dragon's." Ruby scrunched up her face. "Don't let them know you called it that either." Down in the arena, a desert mountain rose out of the floor. An artificial sun also burned to life, right where Ruby was looking. She quickly turned around and blinked rapidly, trying to get the flashes out of her eyes.

Yang also rubbed her eyes, then turned to Aaron, who simply put of a set of sunglasses. "You wouldn't happen to have any more of those would you?"

"Nope." Aaron turned to the two sisters. "There is a spell though. With it, you should be able to look at the sun without any harmful effects." He then began to explain the wording of the spell, and the sisters cast it. Immediately, Ruby saw a difference. All glare from shiny surfaces disappeared and everything was clearer. As a test, she looked up to where the sun hung in the sky. Sure enough, the sight didn't hurt, and there were no flashes in her eyes when she looked away.

Satisfied, Ruby looked down to the arena to see the ocean biome in place. Something was wrong with Neptune though. He stood as still as a statue. Sun pushed the blue haired guy and everything about him stood perfectly rigid as a foot left the ground. Ruby had seen this once before, when she pulled him in her team's window. Her gaze shifted back to the pirate ship in the ocean.

Ruby struggled to hold back a chuckle. "Don't tell me."

Cerise slightly turned her head. _What are you thinking?_

Oobleck gave the countdown, and Neptune sprinted past NDGO and up the mountain. Ruby let her laugh go, but there was a bit of sympathy in there. Yang looked at her sister and cocked her head. "What's so funny?"

"I think Neptune's afraid of water." Yang's mouth made an 'O' shape, then she looked back into the arena. Right from the get go, SSSN was off to a bad start. Dew Gayl of NDGO knocked Sage out by creating a small tornado. All the dragons took a step back and pinned their wings to their sides.

"Whoa, Cerise, what's wrong?" Ruby asked as she was forced back slightly.

 _Nalia told us about windstorms._ Cerise shivered. _I would not want to go up against her._

"That bad?" Ruby put a hand on the side of her soulmate's head.

 _Dragons have lost their wings to those wind-funnels,_ Nalia said. _Without the use of one wing, we aren't expected to survive for long._

"Geez, lighten up Nalia." Yang turned to face the larger green dragon. "Vale isn't known for tornadoes anyway. That's more of a Vacuo and Mistral thing."

Ruby looked back into the bowl. It looked like Scarlet knocked Nebula off the mast of the pirate ship, then Scarlet shot something from the grip of his flintlock pistol to grab one of Gwen's legs. Scarlet then jumped off the mast and used the wire from his pistol to act like a pulley system. Gwen was dragged back and hung in the air from her foot.

Elsewhere, Sun threw a couple of coconuts at Dew. She hit the projectiles back with her staff and sent them flying back at Sun. The monkey Faunus dodged, but both coconuts ended up hitting Scarlet, one in the head, one where the sun doesn't shine. Out of the corner of her eye, Ruby saw Aaron wince in sympathy. With that last hit, SSSN was down to Sun and Neptune.

The remaining three members of NDGO ganged up on Sun, with Neptune staring out into the desert biome. Something Sun said made Neptune turn around and shoot Dew out of the air. Nebula and Gwen joined Dew in the water and fell into defensive positions.

Ruby turned to Yang. "You said that Neptune said that his weapon was electric, right?"

Yang looked over at her sister. "Yeah, why?" She blinked a few times, then looked down into the arena. "Oh, those girls should be in for a shock." Down by the water, Neptune stuck his weapon into the water. Less than a second later, the remaining members of NDGO twitched around in the water as electricity rushed through them. The buzzer sounded, and the three girls fell into the water.

"And with that," Port announced, "Team SSSN moves on to the doubles round. You know what I call that victory?"

"Shocking?" Oobleck offered.

"No, well earned. What you said was stupid."

 _I thought it was pretty good,_ Halcyon said to the group around him.

"That's why you're my dragon." Yang hugged Halcyon's neck.

 _Now I wait for my ride,_ Vert said, while looking over the edge of the roof.

Cerise walked over to the younger dragon and nuzzled the side of his head. _I'll have some food waiting for you in the Dragonhouse._

Ruby watched Sun and Neptune dance. They deserved it, it was a tough fight. "Well that was a close one."

"Looks like the dorks are heading to the next round," Yang agreed.

"That concludes the matches for today," Oobleck announced. "Please leave the coliseum in a CALM AND ORDERLY FASHION!" He practically shouted the last part. Cerise and Halcyon covered their ears, but the damage was already done.

"He knows he has a mic, right?" Aaron asked removing a hand from one of his ears.

"Probably," Yang shrugged "Anyway, let's go congratulate the guys."

Ruby's scroll vibrated in her pocket. She took it out and looked at the caller ID. "Why's Weiss calling?" She hit the answer button. "You need something Weiss?"

"Ruby, I hope I'm not overstepping my bounds, but I need a ride down to Beacon, fast!"

The team leader looked to Cerise. "Can you glide us both down there?" The dragon just nodded. Ruby then looked back down into the bowl to search for her partner. "Okay, is it an emergency?"

There was a slight hesitation on the other end of the call. "Kind of? Look, it would take too long to explain, just meet me at the number six landing bay." The line went dead, leaving Ruby confused.

 _I'll get you two down there, then hunt for Vert._ Cerise laid down next to her Rider.

Ruby climbed into her dragon's saddle. _Is there something going on between you two?_ she asked mentally.

Cerise hummed happily as she stood up. _Maybe I'd like there to be someday._ She leapt into the air and spread her wings. While curving around the Colosseum, Ruby caught sight of a very expensive looking ship. It looked like a personal yacht, but at the same time it looked slightly too big for that. Ruby shook her head. It was probably nothing.

* * *

 **Vastly different sections in here. I just couldn't think of any other way to involve the kids and parents that I hadn't already overdone.**

 **Oh yeah, RTX this past weekend. I wasn't there, of course, but I have read a lot of the stuff coming out of there. I can't wait until October 22! Also, I didn't think Ruby could get any better looking that she already was. If only she was a few years older...and real.**


	39. A Brawl in the Family

**Okay, I was reminded a while ago why I didn't call this story Riders of Remnant from the beginning...Half of all Inheritance Cycle fanfictions have a similar title...The same guest suggested some new names, and if he/she is willing, I might use one of those next week. Really, the thing is I don't want this to blend in with the crowd.**

 **We all know what's coming here, so why wait? Oh, and I hope you like Inception, or else parts of this could get confusing.**

* * *

"Down there!" Weiss shouted from behind Ruby. The heiress pointed at the ship that landed at Beacon's docks. "Get us as close to there as you can!"

Cerise groaned beneath the two teammates. _I need to set down. Weiss, you're throwing me off balance. I can land by the Dragonhouse, but you're on your own from there._ The dragon angled to the area she specified, drawing a slight groan from Weiss.

Ruby turned back to look at her partner. "Whoever you're looking for down there probably isn't going anywhere fast. I'm sure we have time."

"Probably not actually. She's never is the same place for long."

"Who is she, anyway?" Ruby never got an answer. Right as Cerise touched down, Weiss jumped off the dragon's back and ran toward the landing pads. The Rider also slid off her dragon. "And she says I get excited too easily. I better go catch up."

 _If Weiss thinks whoever she's looking for is that important, she probably has a good reason behind it._ Cerise nudged her Rider to get Ruby on her way.

Ruby ran after Weiss and just caught up to her partner as she reached the docks. "Weiss, what is the big deal? Who is it? Who is she?"

Weiss stopped in her tracks and smiled at someone in a group of people just outside of the large transport. "Winter."

"Wait, your sister?" Ruby was surprised. Weiss barely talked about her family, but apparently her sister was the one she was closest to in her family. Winter was also Atlas military, so her showing up at that moment wasn't exactly the most likely thing on Remnant.

"Winter!" Weiss suddenly called, slightly surprising Ruby. The older woman by the transport slowly turned around to face her younger sister. Weiss ran up to her sister, with Ruby right on her tail. "Winter! I'm so happy to see you! Oh," Weiss quickly composed herself, "your presence honors us." The sudden change in her partner's attitude caught Ruby off guard.

The Atlas specialist took a few steps forward. "Beacon, it's been a long time," she said. "The air feels…different."

"I mean it is fall so it's probably colder." Ruby tried to lighten the mood. Her reward for saying that was a punch to the shoulder. Apparently it hit a pressure point and Ruby fell to her knees.

Ruby heard Cerise yelp from back by the Dragonhouse. _What happened?_

 _Nothing. I said something I shouldn't have._ Eventually Ruby recovered and stood back up. Apparently she missed somethings the other sisters said.

"Classified," Winter said, though to what, Ruby had no idea what was so secret though.

"Of course." Weiss nodded, with only a formal smile of her face.

Ruby looked to Weiss, then Winter. The older woman was like Ruby came to expect from dealing with parts of Atlas' military, but nothing like the sister Weiss spoke of. "Well, this is nice…I think." Ruby looked slightly at the ground.

The earlier excitement Weiss showed burst back to the surface. "You're going to love it here! I know you travel a lot but so much of Beacon is different from Atlas! Vale too. The government and school are completely separate! Can you believe it? I'm-"

"I'm more than familiar with how this kingdom handles its bureaucracy." Weiss shut her mouth. Ruby felt increasingly awkward as the other sisters talked. Winter really didn't sound like the caring older sister Weiss made her out to be. Then again, there were other soldiers around, so that could be affecting her attitude.

When Weiss was explaining how she was doing in school, Winter slapped her on the side of the head. "Silence, you boob! I don't recall asking about your ranking. I asked how you've been." Weiss took her hand off her head, revealing a sizeable bump sticking through her hair. Winter continued speaking, "Are you eating properly? Have you taken up any hobbies? Are you making new friends?"

"Well, there's Ruby." Weiss gestured to the girl by her side.

Ruby failed to hold back a laugh and snorted. "Boob." She pushed the bump back into Weiss' head.

Winter finally looked at Ruby. "So, you are the famous Ruby Rose. It's an honor to meet you, and thank you for taking an interest in my sister."

 _Uh, she's acting so high class, what do I say?_ "Oh, yes, of course! The honor is in my… court." Ruby curtsied, but since she wasn't used to the action, she lost her balance and flailed her arms to regain it. She laughed to try and brush the event off.

"What you have done to the Nevermores is quite an impressive feat, even for hardened Huntsmen and soldiers."

Ruby waved Winter off. "Please, don't mention it." There was an unintentional quiver to her voice, and she hoped the other two didn't hear it.

Winter turned back to Weiss. "I have business with the general and your headmaster. But seeing as I'm early, why don't you take me to your quarters?"

"Really?" Weiss' eyes practically sparkled.

"Yes, I wish to inspect them and make sure they're up to my personal standards." Winter walked forward, with Weiss and several androids right behind.

"Of course. Just so you're aware, the bunk beds only look unstable."

There was a slight hitch in Winter's step. "Bunk beds?"

"I'll catch up-wait, uh," Ruby started to call. "I mean I will…reconvene with you both at a later…juncture!...At a juncture." She walked away from the docks and back toward the Dragonhouse. When she got there, Cerise was walking into the building, a deer between her teeth. "Caught one already?"

 _I was surprised too._ Cerise didn't turn back to her Rider, keeping her kill out of sight. _Deer typically don't wander this close to the city._

Ruby snorted again. "Where have you been? Deer get into the parks downtown all the time."

Cerise cocked her head. _Really? I probably shouldn't hunt there though. That could really scare some kids._

"Probably. That wouldn't be too…good." Ruby slowed down as she thought she heard sword clashes. "That's not audio from a scroll." She ran toward the sound of battle.

 _I'm right behind you, Ruby._ The ground shook with each step Cerise took

Ruby found a crowd of people where the battle sounded like it was coming from. She pushed her way through and found Weiss with a front row seat. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Some crazy guy just started attacking my sister!" Weiss pointed at the fight taking place.

"Oh no! Who would do such a th-" Ruby looked at the fight for the first time. Immediately she saw the distinctive silver sword. There was a slight smell of alcohol in the air. "-aaaaat is my uncle!"

"What?" Weiss turned to Ruby with wide eyes.

"Kick her butt Uncle Qrow!" Ruby was in to this fight, even though she just got there.

"Teach him respect, Winter!" Weiss of course supported her own family. The two combatants appeared evenly matched. They exchanged dozens of blows, none of them making contact. That is, until Winter managed to backhand Qrow. Even then, he just smirked at the woman.

After that, Qrow raised his sword above his head and swung down. Winter flew out of the way before the strike could hit, and the sword created a massive hole in the ground. Qrow followed Winter into the central courtyard of Beacon.

The lull in the action gave Ruby time to think. What was Uncle Qrow doing there? Not that Ruby was complaining, but he was supposed to be gone for a while. He shouldn't have been anywhere near Beacon, yet there he was. _He's a good fighter,_ Cerise noted.

 _I told you he helped me while I was at Signal. He's leagues beyond what I can do right now._ Ruby tried to see what was going on in the fight, but only saw the occasional blast from an explosion, and a cut down light pole.

Out of nowhere, Qrow slid back to roughly where the fight initially started. Winter wasn't too far away. The Huntress stuck one of her now two swords into the ground and a glyph appeared beneath her. White birds appeared around her. It took Ruby a second or two to realize the birds were small, white Nevermores. The birds then flew at Qrow, seemingly just flying by him, but apparently hitting in some way.

That continued until Qrow shot a wave slice at Winter. Another glyph then appeared behind the Huntress. Qrow scowled and shifted the form of his weapon. Ruby's excitement built. She always loved seeing her uncle's scythe in action. Before it fully transformed though, the blade returned to its normal state.

Qrow taunted Winter with a finger, then the Huntress charged. It looked like she was going to stab at Qrow's neck when, "Schnee!" Winter stopped her sword in its tracks inches from Qrow's neck.

Winter turned around. "General Ironwood, sir!" She stood at attention. Ruby also looked at the general. For whatever reason, Penny stood by his side. The android's eyes flicked over to Ruby, then a blue envelope glowed to life in the Rider's vision.

'Everything going okay with your bionics?'

Ruby tried to hide a smile. Since the last time they talked like that, Ruby figured out that she could just think what she wanted to send. It really helped out when silent communication was a must, though it was a time consuming process. 'Everything's going great! I take it you've heard about my combat arm?'

Penny had no outward response, but another envelope appeared shortly after Ruby sent her message 'Affirmative. I haven't seen your specifications, but I've heard it can punch through concrete walls and can take incredible amounts of stress before breaking.'

'That's the plan. Congratulations on your first round win, by the way.' Ruby barely noticed Ozpin and Goodwitch enter the area.

'Thanks! And good job with the Nevermores. That's an impressive accomplishment.'

Ruby's smile slightly faded. 'Penny, _please_ don't mention it.'

Penny blinked once, then ever nodded so lightly that people would have to be specifically looking for it. She then turned around and followed Winter, Ironwood, and a few other androids away. She turned back and waved obviously at Ruby though.

Ruby waved back, then focused on her uncle. "Uncle Qrow!" She jumped and latched onto one of his arms. "Hi." She felt vibrations in the ground, strangely though her uncle's arm. "Brace yourself." Qrow raised an eyebrow at Ruby, then he looked up. His eyes grew wide and his mouth dropped slightly. Soon after, Cerise tackled Ruby and Qrow to the ground. Ruby tightened her grip on her uncle's arm. "It's so good to see you! Did you miss me? Did you miss me?"

Qrow smirked. "Nope." He ruffled Ruby's hair while Cerise got off the top of them. They both got up and Qrow looked at Cerise. "If you were going for stealth, you failed miserably." Cerise snorted black smoke at the Huntsman.

"Qrow!" Ozpin said. Both Ruby and Qrow looked at the headmaster. "A word, please." Goodwitch repaired the damage to the path behind Ozpin.

Qrow leaned down toward Ruby and covered one side of his mouth with a hand. "I think I'm in trouble."

Ruby shrugged. "You did kind of tear up our courtyard.

"Yeah…I did." Qrow winked and fist bumped his niece. "Catch you later kid." He walked away and followed Ozpin.

"And suddenly your recklessness makes sense." Weiss said as she walked over to Ruby's side.

"You're just mad because he whooped butt." Ruby elbowed her partner.

"That was a draw at best."

 _From what Ruby's told me and from what I've seen in her memories,_ Cerise interjected, _he was holding back._

"Of course you'd take her side!" Weiss sighed. "I'm going to meet Winter by our dorm. Try and keep your uncle away from there until we're gone."

"We're probably just going to the Dragonhouse anyway." Ruby shrugged.

 _Vert and Velvet,_ Cerise said sadly.

"Ohhhh." Ruby nodded slowly. "Okay. I'll let you two have your time."

"Thank you." Weiss walked away toward RWBY's dorm.

Cerise nudged Ruby's shoulder. _I like him. He's different._

"I'll say. You haven't tackled _me_ in a while, and not anyone else since before…everything happened."

 _You haven't been in the right mood._ Cerise nuzzled her snout against Ruby's forehead.

"I guess there's that." Ruby rubbed the side of Cerise' head, then looked down at her dragon's front right leg. After all this time, no scales regrew naturally where the Beowolves mauled her. "While I'm thinking about it, why don't I take care of this now?"

Cerise moved the leg away. _Actually, I think I'll keep this. My first battle scar. Everyone has them._

"Are you sure? It's no problem for me."

 _I'm fine. If it ever gets to be a problem in battle, then you can take care of it._ Cerise' eyes gleamed. _Thank you for your offer though._ Ruby smiled, then reached up to scratch behind one of her dragon's ears. Cerise hummed and leaned into it.

"There you two are!" Yang called from behind Ruby. The younger sister turned around to see the older walking her way, Halcyon right behind. "I thought you two would be in the Dragonhouse."

"A fight broke out here and I had to see what it was. Believe it or not, it was Weiss' sister versus Uncle Qrow."

Yang's face lit up like the sun. "Uncle Qrow's here?"

"Yep. You just missed him. Ozpin apparently wasn't too happy with him tearing up Beacon."

"Those are two people I would not wasn't to get between." Yang cocked her head. "Think either of us can take him in Annihilation Arena yet?"

"Only one way to find out. We'll just have to wait for Weiss to finish showing her sister the room. That is if he's available tonight."

"What's wrong with the Dragonhouse?" Yang then looked up and her shoulders slumped slightly. "Oh yeah. Vert." Ruby turned around to see an air bus flying in with Vert on top. The members of team CFVY were probably the only other passengers.

Ruby turned back to Yang. "So, what do you want to do while we're waiting?" After she spoke, her scroll vibrated in her pocket. She took it out at looked at her notifications. "Oh! We have the replays already."

Yang rolled her eyes. "I thought you said not until after the tournament."

"Well, _I'm_ not going on, and neither is Blake. We can work some stuff out, then I'll be able to go through yours and Weiss' footage in more detail.

"Yeah, yeah." Yang grabbed Ruby's hood and pulled it over her head and eyes. "Why don't you take your mind off the tournament for five minutes so we can get a pizza or something?"

"Sounds good." Ruby pulled her hood of and blinked twice. "There's also the few days of classwork we missed when we were preparing for Fort Castle."

Yang sighed. "They're still holding us for that stuff?"

"Last time I checked." Ruby opened a pizza ordering app on her scroll. "Two large bacon-peperoni and something for the dragons?"

Yang smirked. "Okay, but what about for me and Uncle Qrow?" She received an elbow in the gut.

* * *

Ruby woke up in the middle of the night. After a few seconds of just lying in her bunk bed with her eyes open, she still couldn't figure out why. Probably just a slight difference in temperature or something along those lines.

As she was about to try and fall asleep again, she heard a groan in the room. Ruby turned her head to see Yang on her side facing the wall. The blonde quickly shuffled her way to her other side. Her eyes were closed and slightly clenched. That wasn't a good sign. Yang only tossed and turned when she had a bad nightmare, and even then it hadn't happened for a few years.

Ruby bit her lip as she considered her sister's earlier offer. She really didn't want to know what was in her sister's head. It was too private. Suddenly she realized why Yang offered it in the first place.

Hesitantly, Ruby stretched her mind over to Yang's. She wasn't exactly sure how her big sister did it, but she pressed on nonetheless. Initially, all Ruby felt was fear. Yang was terrified of something, and she wasn't exactly scared of much. _I swear Yang, if I'm going in here over a bunch of Arachnii…_

She pushed deeper and deeper into Yang's head until a large dimly lit room overlaid her own vision. Ruby closed her eyes so she wasn't seeing two things at once. _Okay, now how do I move here without moving in real life?_

"Please…don't," an all too familiar voice begged. Ruby froze. The voice didn't belong to Yang, but the man who kidnapped Ruby. It was quickly followed by a loud, wet slapping sound and a scream. Ruby slowly turned to where the sound came from. She saw Yang standing over the man, her fists bloodied. Two more corpses lay nearby.

Yang reeled back a fist for what surely would have been the killing blow. "Yang!" Ruby sprinted forward and somehow managed to tackle her sister to the ground. Yang threw Ruby off shortly after though and fell into a defensive position. Ruby looked up at her sister's face. Yang's lips formed a snarl and her eyebrows were furrowed. Her eyes were red, but instead of the pure rage they typically showcased, they were filled with the fear Ruby felt on the outside.

"What are you doing here, Ruby?" Yang growled.

"Yang this isn't what it looks like! This isn't how we do things!"

Yang's jaw dropped slightly. "Are you _defending_ them? After what they did to you and the others?" She thrust her right fist out and fired Ember Celica at Ruby. While the younger sister typically would have dodged, the shot moved unnaturally fast. It clipped her on the side of the head and Ruby fell to the ground. While she didn't feel any actual pain, she felt a warm liquid running down her face.

Ruby stood up and faced her sister. Yang's hair was on fire now, and her eyes showed even more terror than before. She raised her arm again, but before she could fire, Ruby sprinted forward and hugged her sister, pinning Yang's arms to her side. "Yang, snap out of it! This isn't real! You're dreaming!"

Yang fought to free herself from Ruby's arms, grunting as they tried. As time went on though, she struggled less and less and her grunts turned into sobs. She started shaking and her arms wrapped around Ruby as much as they could in their pinned state. "Ruby…I…I didn't mean to do that."

"I know. I didn't feel it either." Ruby slid her arms up Yang's to allow her sister to move them freely. Yang immediately brought Ruby into a back breaking hug. Normally Ruby would have struggled to breathe, but since this wasn't real, she had no such inhibition. "I know you didn't mean the others either. I saw it in your eyes."

"I…I couldn't stop myself. This started after Fort Castle…Why'd that bastard's Aura have to be so weak?"

"There's probably no way of making this easier for you, but he honestly probably would have gotten the death penalty anyway. You avenged mom. I can't say I'm glad he's dead, but I can say I'm happy he won't hurt anyone else." Yang nodded slowly, but didn't release her grip on her sister.

Almost as an afterthought, Ruby started the procedure Yang used several times before to get her out of nightmares. "We're at the beach by the house on Patch. It's a late fall morning. There's a light breeze and the temperature is perfect." As she watched, everything she said came to life around her. It kind of looked like the holofloor from Galaxy Trek. There was only one more thing to do before Yang's mind would fully take over the dream again.

Ruby gave her sister one last tight squeeze. "Happy birthday, Yang!" She tried to pull back but Yang's arms held her in place a second more.

"Aw, thanks Ruby!" Yang pulled back and Ruby looked her sister in the eyes. They were back to their normal lilac and held none of the fear from only seconds ago. Yang turned around to where there was now a large table with a South Mistral style buffet laid out. It looked like half of Beacon showed up for the party, and the huge stack of presents at one end of the table supported that.

Yang walked toward the small crowd and Ruby smiled. _Mission accomplished._

Suddenly Halcyon appeared by Ruby's side. He nudged the girl on the arm. _Thanks for the help._

Ruby turned to the golden dragon. "Where were you earlier?" she whispered.

 _I helped her through the past few nights. It helped, but she needed to hear things from you._

"...I beat you to the punch?"

Halcyon blinked. _By two seconds._ He walked past Ruby and toward Yang. Halfway there, he slowed down and crawled on his belly toward his Rider. A few seconds later, he pounced. Yang whirled around and grabbed one of her dragon's legs. She flung Halcyon over her head and slammed him into the ground.

One of Halcyon's legs twitched and Yang put one of hers on her dragon's belly. "I have vanquished this foul beast! You all owe me a debt of gratitude." Suddenly Halcyon started rolling and ended up pinning Yang to the ground underneath him. Everyone at the party laughed. Ruby joined in as she joined her sister.

Two roars rolled over the water. Ruby looked to find them and saw two large dragons flying over the water. One of them was pure white, the other black with red stripes. Ruby looked into the crowd of people and saw Weiss and Blake Right before Ruby was going to ask who they were, she shut her mouth. She didn't want to ruin Yang's dream. Then again, lucid dreams tended to be fun.

Luckily, Yang answered Ruby's question. "Hey! Moms are here!" Ruby froze in place as she focused on the white dragon. She tried to zoom in with her bionic eye, but apparently that didn't work in Yang's dream. Soon enough though, the white dragon angled down, revealing its Rider clad in white. Ruby smiled. She had a few similar dreams before of her mom being a Rider.

The two unknown dragons touched down and their Riders slid off. Yang walked up to her own mom first. "I was hoping you two would make it.

"I couldn't miss your eighteenth, Firecracker," Raven said as she hugged Yang. "I've missed too many before."

"Just don't miss many more." Yang let go of her own mom, then hugged Summer.

"Happy birthday, Phoenix." Summer said happily. "Hope I didn't miss anything."

"It's not a party until Super Mom is here!"

"Thanks, Yang." Summer grinned mischievously and tugged on Yang's hair. She was the only one who could ever get away with doing that without getting hit in some manner.

Instead, Yang just groaned. "Mom! We've talked about this!"

"I know, but it's just talk." Summer laughed, and received glares from Yang and Raven. Ruby laughed too as she finally approached her mom.

Before she could get halfway though, she was hugged from the side. "Forget about me, Pipsqueak?" Raven asked.

"Ah, well, you know, things happen." Ruby awkwardly wrapped her arms around Yang's mom. _Is this what Yang wants her mom to be like?_ Ruby let Raven go and turned to look back at her own mom. She jumped into Summer's arms. Ruby may have had similar dreams, but this was the first time she was fully lucid. "I miss you…"

Summer wrapped her arms around Ruby. "I know." The way it was said made Ruby freeze up, then look up at her mom's face. There was more emotion in those silver eyes than should have been possible in a dream. "I miss you too." Summer winked. "I don't know why though; I've only been gone four days." Summer let Ruby go, then walked over to the large group.

Ruby stood frozen, trying to figure out what just happened. _Did she just…Am I already affecting Yang's mind already?_ She shook her head and joined everyone back at the table.

The party went on for what felt like a few 'hours,' until someone's scroll alarm rang and woke Yang up. Ruby immediately pulled back into her own head. To her own surprise, she felt fully rested. Then again, apparently Yang had the same experience.

Yang groaned from her bunk. "Who set the alarm for so early?"

"It's nine o'clock," a rather awake sounding Weiss said from her own bed. "It's two hours past normal."

"That's still too early…" Yang covered her head with a pillow.

 _Then I guess you're too tired for a pre-fight flight,_ Halcyon said.

"I'm up!" Yang quickly swung her legs over the side of the bed, nearly kicking Blake in the face.

"Geez, Yang" the Faunus said while moving her partner's feet away from her face. "It's not like you don't fly him every day."

"Not like this." Yang chuckled then jumped off her bed. As she straightened out after landing, she locked eyes with Ruby. The smile quickly disappeared from her face. _Ruby, was that you last night?_

Ruby smiled. _Blizzard and Nightwatch huh? I think our moms would love them._

Yang's eyes widened slightly and her mouth opened a little. _Ruby, I swear I didn't mean to shoot you! I couldn't-_

 _Don't worry about it._ Ruby held up a hand. _If I felt anything, it was a light tap on the face. Your head did the rest._

"Uh, Yang," Blake poked Yang's lower back. "You going to move?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry." Yang moved out of the way. "I was distracted."

"You feeling alright?" Weiss asked. "I don't need you distracted."

"Guess my sleep didn't start out the best. I should be better by our fight tomorrow."

"It's tomorrow," Ruby chipped in from her bunk. "Both of you, relax. There's plenty of time."

"What are we missing right now, anyway?" Blake asked.

"Well, CFVY's the first doubles at eleven. After that, the next one I at least have to be at is PCMN, and they're right before us. But, that's tomorrow morning."

"If that's the case," Weiss started, "first shower." She walked into the team's bathroom.

"Well I'm going to get something to eat." Ruby slid off her bed and walked to her dresser.

"Mind if I come with you?" Yang asked.

Ruby turned back to look at her sister. "First time in a while. What's the occasion?"

"I'm impulsive. When I'm hungry, I eat." While Yang's tone suggested nonchalance, her face suggested something else.

Ruby gave a sideways nod. "Fair enough." Both sisters got dressed and headed out for the cafeteria. Neither of them said anything until they were outside. "You're not really that hungry, are you."

For the first time that Ruby could remember, Yang looked defeated. "I didn't expect it to just go away, but I didn't imagine it haunting me like this."

"Yang, I'm sure it's natural." Ruby put a hand on her sister's shoulder, even though the action felt awkward due to the height difference. "If you didn't regret it, I'd be worried."

Yang sighed. "I just hope these nightmares go away soon."

"It may take a while, but they do."

"Thanks Ruby." Yang smirked at her younger sister. "When did you become the big sister?"

"When you needed me to be."

* * *

 **Hope you all stayed through the confusion of Yang's dream. That was a pain to write. Also, I've just noticed I've had a tendency to use food in these discussion/transition scenes...Not sure if that's good or bad.  
**


	40. A Dusty Old Qrow

**Another week, another story name. Hopefully this one will stick. another reason for changing, there was another story called THE Riders of Remnant. That's just confusing.**

 **So, continuing with Volume 3. Someone may seem a little OOC here, but it's a side of him we don't really know yet.**

* * *

For the first time in recent memory, Aaron was running late. The rest of his team was already at Amity Colosseum waiting for team CFVY's match to start. He just _had_ to leave his scroll back in RWBY's dorm room. For whatever reason, he needed his ID to get into the contestant's seats. Seriously, did no one know who he was? He wasn't self-centered or anything, but he'd been on and off the news for months.

Nalia laid outside the Dragonhouse waiting for Aaron to return. Surprisingly though, someone else stood by her side. Considering that guy was still alive or not pinned underneath one of Nalia's paws, he wasn't hostile.

As Aaron approached, he started to recognize the man. He had spikey black hair with a few grey streaks. A large sword hung on his back underneath a tattered black and red cape. He was the same guy Aaron saw walking with Ozpin and Goodwitch the day before.

"Can I help you with something?" Aaron asked as soon as he was within speaking range.

The man turned around and wobbled slightly on his feet. "So you're the fifth member of the team." While his speech wasn't slurred, his voice was gravelly and slightly drawn out. A breeze blew by and carried the unmistakable smell of alcohol.

Aaron locked eyes with Nalia for a second. _Why haven't you shown him the way out?_

 _He is not what he appears to be,_ Nalia replied. _Hear him out._

Aaron looked back at the man in front of him. "Forgive me for being rude, but who are you, and why are you so close to my dragon?"

"The name's Qrow. I'm sure Ruby's mentioned me."

"Only a few hundred times." Aaron nodded at the man who taught Ruby how to fight. There was definitely more to this man than there appeared to be. "She compares herself to you almost as much as her mom."

"Hmm, that sounds about right." Qrow sighted. "As for why I'm here, you should know I don't do this for everyone." He paused. "Thanks for getting Ruby out of that hellhole the first time, and looking after since then."

Aaron nodded. "It wouldn't matter if we weren't on the same team, or if Ruby wasn't a Rider. My actions would have been the same."

"I'm sure you would, just as I'm sure you'll continue watching her back in the near future."

Nalia and Aaron locked eyes, then Aaron turned back to Qrow. "You say that like you think she's going to be in danger sometime soon."

"Your whole team is in danger. I know you know about the prices on all you your heads. They didn't go away when you took out the Nevermores. They still apply, but are open to whoever is crazy enough to take you all on."

"I don't think anyone is crazy enough to take on the ones who took down the Nevermores."

"Then you really haven't been on Remnant long enough." Qrow scowled. "What's worse is that the one who placed the bounties is going to Beacon." Aaron stiffened up, and Nalia raised a corner of her lips to growl. She quickly closed them though in case the person who wanted them dead was watching.

"What do you mean Queen's going to Beacon?" If Qrow knew about the bounties, he certainly knew who placed them.

"I mean she's posing as a student. I don't know exactly who she is but she was at least in the first round of the tournament." Qrow paused. "I don't suppose you'd have any suspects?"

Aaron brought a hand up to his chin in thought. "There is one person who comes to mind. Emerald Sustrai. She stole Vert's egg from the Dragonhouse a while ago. She's pickpocket and a thief, but I don't think she has the Lien to fill those bounties. However, she is the only one that has motive against us."

 _Her and Cardin,_ Nalia added, _though he isn't smart enough to think of something like this._

"And Ruby punched him through a wall _after_ the bounties were set." Aaron shook his head. "Don't know why he'd call himself 'Queen' either."

Qrow nodded. "I'll see what I can find out about this 'Emerald.' I shouldn't have to tell you I don't want Ruby and Yang knowing about this."

"They've got enough to worry about without knowing that there's a price on their heads. Anyway, Yang or Weiss might be able to beat it out of them in the singles round."

 _Don't get ahead of yourself, Aaron. There's a few fights before that can happen._

"Well, I've got someplace else to be." Aaron walked past Qrow. "It was a pleasure to meet you." He climbed into Nalia's saddle and the dragon took flight. They rushed to the Colosseum in hopes of making it to the fight. Still, what Qrow said changed Aaron's thoughts from excitement from a friendly fight to wanting to watch over his shoulder.

 _Do you really think Emerald could be behind this?_ Nalia asked her Rider.

 _I'm not sure. I know she's a thief, but I wouldn't peg her as someone who actually plots to kill others._

 _You didn't think that Ruby was a warrior or a team leader when you met her. Looks can be deceiving, and Emerald could just be putting up an act._

 _She has avoided us from the beginning, but I can't figure out what we did to her._ Aaron shook his head. _Then again, Queen could be someone we don't know. We could be looking in exactly the wrong place._

Nalia hummed her agreement. _We must remain cautious._ She flew up to the Colosseum Hangers and landed inside one of them. Aaron dismounted and Nalia flew off.

"And now, our next combatants!" Port announced over the speakers. The smaller screens hung around the concourse showed the action, or the soon to be action anyway. "Emerald and Mercury of Haven versus Coco and Yatsuhashi of Beacon!"

Aaron entered the bowl and looked around for his team. Ruby said they'd try and get the same spot as early yesterday, but it was open seating and anyone could take the seats. Eventually he had to find them using his mind, as just as his luck would have it, he was on the exact opposite side of the arena.

As he walked around the arena, Aaron watched the fight start. Emerald and Mercury slowly backed into the tall grass behind them. Only after they disappeared did Coco start firing into the grass. Since Aaron had an aerial view, he saw Emerald and Mercury rush through the grass to flank the other two.

After a few seconds, Coco effectively mowed all of the grass down to a more reasonable height. Her opponents were nowhere near the grass though. While the two members of CFVY were distracted, Mercury attacked from behind Coco. Yatsuhashi pushed his leader out of the way and blocked the kick with his large sword. Mercury kicked off the sword and Coco trailed the guy with her minigun, unable to land a hit.

Mercury got in close and drop kicked Yatsuhashi in the head, though the bigger guy still stood. Coco fired another barrage at Mercury, but the guy jumped over her and forced the minigun to point right at Yatsuhashi's chest.

Aaron scowled as he finally made it into the row where his team sat. He figured something like this could happen. Mercury and Emerald were both light on their feet and could get close up with their opponents. Yatsuhashi was too big, and his sword wasn't exactly made for close quarters combat. Coco was slightly better off by converting her weapon into a purse and using it like a club, she still couldn't hope to match her opponent's speed.

"Hey Aaron. Where ya been?" Yang asked as Aaron sat down on next to her.

"I had an unexpected run-in with your uncle." Aaron looked back into the arena and noticed Coco disappeared.

Ruby leaned forward in her seat and looked at Aaron. "You know our uncle? What did he say?" Weiss covered her face with a hand.

"Not much, just to thank me for looking after you after…you know." Even after a few months, Ruby occasionally still had panic attacks when certain memories came up. It almost happened in the middle of her match the day before.

"Whoa, Uncle Qrow thanked somebody not in his team? Call VNN, this is groundbreaking news." Yang rolled her eyes after she spoke.

"He's not that brutish, is he?" Weiss asked.

"Nah, he's pretty cool for an old guy."

"Don't let him know you said that, sis," Ruby said with a chuckle.

The buzzer sounded and Aaron looked back into the arena. "Oh, and with that final blow, Yatsuhashi is eliminated!" Port announced. A whimper filtered through the noise in the Colosseum. Aaron looked up to see Vert looking down into the bowl, his head hanging lower than it normally was. It made sense that Vert would care for the other members of his Rider's team.

Suddenly, Coco flew out of the forest section, spinning head over heels. The buzzer sounded while she was in the air. She landed next to Yatsuhashi, and both were out cold. The crowd cheered, though not as loudly as some of the previous fights. "And with an amazing upset, Emerald and Mercury are victorious!" Oobleck announced, followed by a lot of booing from the crowd.

Aaron sighed and looked over to Velvet, who sat on the other side of Ruby. "Coco…" the Faunus said weakly. Fox put a hand on his teammate's shoulder.

"Hey Velv," Yang started. "One of us will get 'em back, if we're randomly placed with them that is."

 _You have a fight of your own to win first, Yang,_ Halcyon called from the roof. _Don't get ahead of yourself._

"Confidence is good," Blake added. "Overconfidence can get in the way."

Yang rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, Professor Goodwitch."

Weiss' scroll rang and she took it out of her pocket. Her eye lit up when she read the screen. "Sorry guys. Got to go." She stood up and immediately walked out of the stands.

"Must be her sister," Ruby guessed. Her own scroll rang, and she exploded out of her seat when she read what was there. "Yang, we gotta go too! Uncle Qrow wants to see us."

"Okay, where?" Yang stood up from her seat.

"Sounds like lunch or something downtown, then Arena Annihilation." Ruby grabbed Yang's arm and pulled her sister along, leaving Aaron and Blake alone with Velvet and Fox.

Aaron turned to Blake. "So, we just watch more fights then?"

Blake shrugged. "Might as well. Someone's going to have to tell Ruby what she missed."

* * *

Qrow whistled as he entered the Dragonhouse. "Nice place you got here."

"We made it nice," Ruby admitted. "When we first moved in, there were cracks in the floors and walls, some windows were boarded up, and there were Dust stains on the floor. I guess Ozpin took care of most of the structural and electrical stuff, but it was still an empty warehouse."

Ruby dragged her uncle toward her custom workshop while Yang moved to set up the game. "This was one of the first things that we got in here. It was kind of by necessity though. I really wanted to feel my arm again." Ruby rubbed the fake skin on her right arm. "I did most of the work in the workshop though. I wanted it to be a surprise." She pulled up the schematics for the skin on her workbench's computer.

"I have no idea what I'm looking at here," Qrow admitted after a few seconds of staring at the screen. "I'm not doubting your capabilities, but how did you find out how to make this on your own."

Ruby rubbed the back of her head. "A lot of research on other attempts to make artificial skin. This still isn't one-hundred percent realistic, I can only feel things on the surface. There's no muscle strain at all. I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss it."

"So that's the arm Atlas gave you." Qrow tapped Ruby's bionic arm. "I know who you feel about standard issue things. Where's the one you built?"

"Right here!" Ruby opened a cabinet on the back of the workbench to show her combat arm hanging on a hook. "Tested that one in the field. It works perfectly as designed. It still needs some tweaks though. It could be more energy efficient. I also need to figure out how to switch to gun mode without saying anything and how to reduce the size of this thing so I can get skin around it.

"I do have plans to make a new leg and eye, but they're on the backburner until I'm happy with my arm. Also, I think I might actually need surgery to replace my eye. It's not exactly modular like my arm and leg."

Qrow clapped Ruby on the back. "You're doing good kid. Just don't over extend yourself." He looked at another part of the workbench. "What's this?"

Ruby watched as her uncle picked up a hand drawn card. "Oh, that's from Violet Calrow, the first Faunus I helped. I got that the day after…" Ruby paused as she remembered that day. She shook her head to get rid of those thoughts. "...the day I got back. I also got a thank you video from more of the Faunus I helped. It felt so good to get all that, but the less I get in the future the better."

There was a slight sparkle in Qrow's eyes. "And why is that?"

"Because people have to be hurt in the first place." Ruby shook her head. "I'll make as many family reunions possible as I can, but I never want to ever have to make it happen."

Qrow ruffled Ruby's hair. "Just like your mother."

"Hey guys!" Yang called. "The game's ready!"

Ruby got out of her uncle's reach and smirked up at him. "Time for you to get beat by a little girl!"

"Oh really?" Qrow returned the smirk. "As I remember, I'm the undisputed champion in the family."

"Not for long!" Yang called. "We've been practicing in our spare time."

Halcyon snorted at Yang. _Five minutes yesterday doesn't count._

"Hey!" Yang glared at her dragon, and the others in the room chuckled.

"First round!" Ruby called as she connected her scroll to the Rbox. She sat down on one of Cerise outstretched legs and waited for Qrow to connect. Once both players were in, Ruby chose her main character, Reaping Stalker. Of course, Qrow went with Soaring Ninja. Either that character needed a serious nerf whenever the game originally came out, or Qrow was just that good. Probably a combination of both.

The match started, and Ruby started out swinging. She landed the first few hits and barely took any back. She was getting into it, like she always does during games. "You'll never beat me old man!"

"Heh, you're nothin' but talk, kid." That's when Qrow started to get the advantage. Now Ruby couldn't land a hit to save her life and Qrow knocked her health down incredibly fast.

"You can do it Ruby!" Yang cheered, apparently still thinking Ruby had any control left over the match.

With one last button press, Soaring Ninja decapitated Reaping Stalker. "Soaring Ninja wins!" the game announcer said. "Total Annihilation."

Ruby's mouth fell open, then she looked at her lap. It started out so well too…How did it go south so quickly?

Qrow leaned over toward Ruby. "By the way. Don't ever call me 'old.'"

Before Ruby could say anything, the was forcefully pushed off Cerise' leg by Yang. She lost control of her scroll as she tumbled. "My turn!" Yang said happily.

Cerise gently growled at the new person sitting on her leg. _Play nice with your sister._

Yang shrugged it off as the next match started. "New challenger approaches." Apparently Yang decides to stick with Reaping Stalker. It started too quickly for any change.

"Now where was I?" Qrow asked.

"Before we got here," Ruby said between Yang and Qrow's shoulders, "you were telling us about your last mission!"

"Right, right." While he most likely didn't know it, Ruby was trying to distract her uncle so Yang might actually beat him. "I come across a small village in the swamps west of Mistral. Right off the bat, I knew something wasn't right."

"What were you doing there?" Ruby asked, sounding bewildered. So far, her distraction tactic seemed to be working.

"I needed information. Tired from battling Grimm along the way, I decided to start my search at the town's Inn. The place was crawling with low-lifes and thugs, even a few Huntsmen I could only assume had been hired by less than reputable people for less than respectable jobs. And that's when it happened."

"What happened?" Yang asked, taking her eyes off the screen for a second. Ruby winced. Apparently her distraction worked too well.

"I was defeated... by the mere sight... of the Inn Keeper's skirt length!"

Yang's jaw dropped, and she reached into one of Cerise' saddlebags and took out a pillow Ruby always had on her. She threw it at Qrow's head, but it was caught before it made contact. "You are the worst!"

Qrow and Ruby locked eyes for a second and they both laughed, though Ruby only laughed at Yang's reaction. That kind of joke might have been funny a few months ago, but…things happened. Just the thought of all that fractured her good mood. Cerise nudged Ruby's arm, then something passed between her and Qrow. The old guy nodded ever so slightly that Ruby would have missed it if she wasn't looking for it.

Qrow turned back to Yang. "Best two out of three?" Yang nodded slightly.

"So, Uncle Qrow," Ruby started to change the subject, "did you get in trouble with Ozpin?"

"Nah, me and Oz go way back." Qrow waved Ruby off. "We're cool."

Yang scoffed. "Pretty cool for an old guy."

"Not funny."

"Hey, so, what are you doing here anyway?" Ruby asked. "I thought dad said you'd be away on a mission for, like...ever."

The next round in the game started, and both Qrow and Yang focused back on the game. "Well, a professional Huntsman like myself is expected to get results, as soon as possible."

Ruby nodded. "Yeah, I get that. We're pretty much pros too."

"Oh really?" Qrow raised an eyebrow.

"Pssh, yeah," Yang started. "Read the news sometime! We totally saved Vale while you were gone."

"Funny, because I heard Vale suffered a Grimm attack after you almost managed to stop a train." Once again, Soaring Ninja cut off his opponent's head. Yang slammed Ruby's scroll into her lap. "But they don't give out medals for 'almost.'"

"They do, and they're called silver!" Ruby corrected.

Cerise snorted. _That's one way to put it._

Qrow sighed and lowered his scroll. "But what you did to the Nevermores though, even I have to admit that was impressive. I know more Huntsmen that went after them than I care to admit. Most of them had families, or others that they really cared about. It's been the same process since the beginning. Whenever someone thought the Nevermores were bluffing, they were shown otherwise. How you never gained the same ire, I'll never know."

"Well, if they're being taken down by a lot of kids, what chance would they have against you and dad?" Yang offered.

Ruby rubbed the back of her neck. "Some of the Bullheads they had carried missiles. Our house isn't exactly built to take airstrikes."

Qrow nodded, then looked like he was contemplating something. "You should know I found the guy who released the pictures of you to the news. The coward said he left Fort Castle before the fighting broke out. Now he's in Atlas custody, and they're trying to figure out why and how he got onto the _Vytal_ in the first place."

Ruby sighed in relief and Cerise hummed comfortingly. "Thank you."

"Other than that, my contacts in Atlas won't say anything about what happened at Fort Castle." Qrow sighed. "Neither of you have to answer this if you don't want to, but what happened there?"

Both sisters hesitated and locked eyes. Neither of them wanted to talk about what happened there, but then again, it was Uncle Qrow who was asking, not some random person off the street.

"It went about as well as could be expected," Ruby eventually said. "The Nevermores are without leadership and their main base. Aaron even discovered his Semblance. None of us were permanently injured, physically anyway…One of the Faunus in there died in my arms." Cerise hummed and partially wrapped her Rider in a wing.

Halcyon walked close to Cerise, and Yang switched from a red to a gold leg. "I was in the command center there, and I fought who I think was the head of the Nevermores. He mentioned something about mom, and…I just lost it. I wasn't at full strength with my hair cut to shoulder length…but I still managed to break his neck." Yang looked at the floor, and Halcyon snaked his head around to rest on his Rider's lap.

Qrow sighed. "Welcome to the life of being a Huntress. I know both of those feelings, and they never get any easier.

"Do you see their faces?" Ruby asked. She thought she knew the answer, she just needed to hear it.

"Occasionally, yes. The frequency goes down over time, but hey never leave."

"I found mom's sword there," Yang said suddenly.

Qrow's eyes widened slightly as he looked at Yang. "What?"

"Sun's Light was hung like a trophy in a room off the command center." Yang shook her head, bit her lip, and tears formed in her eyes. "There was also a video in there of mom's last minutes."

"She went down fighting, protecting us." Ruby's own eyes teared up. Then something occurred to her. "There was a lot of snow in the courtyard after mom did her work. Do you know what that was about?"

Qrow hesitated. "Despite what you'd think, your mother loved to use Ice Dust. She could do things I don't think your friend Weiss could do. Then again, Summer had years of practice."

"Yeah, well, at least the only fights that we have in the near future are against other students, not criminals." Yang finally looked up from the floor.

"Yeah, the White Fang's been quiet since the breach," Ruby agreed. "Maybe a little too quiet."

"Maybe you two are starting to think like Huntresses." Qrow nodded his approval. "Four girls, a dude, and a handful of dragons can't completely stop a criminal organization. Violence hasn't dropped since Roman got nabbed. It's stopped. Completely. No White Fang activity anywhere around the city. You cut off the head of a King Taijitu, but now the second head's calling the shots. That's what Ironwood can't get through that thick, metal head of his."

Ruby and Yang exchanged a glance. "You know the general?" Yang asked.

"So do you two, much earlier than I did, just so you know."

"From what I've seen of him, he seemed nice," Ruby said.

"'Nice' is not a word that I'd use to describe him. Even though I may give him crap, he's a good general that can take on any threat that he knows about. When he doesn't know about something though, it's often up to Ozpin to talk some sense into him.

"Speaking of Ozpin, I have to go have a talk with him." Qrow stood up and made his way toward the door of the Dragonhouse. "Look, you both are a lot stronger than any of us were when we were your age, but it's only because of your dragons. Remember that you've still got a long way to go. And don't think for a second that graduating means you're done. I'm sure you've discovered this by now, but every day out there is worth a week in this place. You two, you're gonna go far. But only if you keep learning. If you never stop moving forward." With that said, Qrow left the building.

* * *

 **You don't know how much of a pain this chapter this was to write. In fact, working around Volume 3 is proving to be a lot harder. In case you haven't noticed by now, I've tried not to include things from the show that wouldn't be changed much or has relatively little impact on the story of this. Less wordy that way.  
**

 **One last thing, I've started to reread this thing again for nostalgia and to curb boredom...and once again I'm asking all you Grammar Nazis out there to hit me with everything you've got. Up until this point, I've been going at this mostly alone. Due to circumstances beyond either of our control, my beta reader/plot ideas guy** **Kaleidophoenix is unable to help at the moment. If one of you would like to beta read for me, the help would definitely be appreciated.  
**


	41. Putting On a Show

**If you're following along even halfway decently, you'll know it's time to get FNKI (insert cha-cha slide here). I will say that right now that the timing of certain event may not line up exactly with the show. I've tracked the days as best as I could through window shots, but I still think that some things are just flat out wrong.**

* * *

Yang leaned against the tunnel wall as she waited for her next match to start. Weiss and she were the second match of that day, and the finals started after dark that night. That wasn't the part that worried her though. It wasn't even nine thirty in the morning, and she was getting ready for a fight. If she had her way, she would be in bed for at least another hour. Halcyon offered to lend her energy to help her wake up, but she refused. It would give her too much of an advantage over her opponents.

Currently, Atlas' marching band was entertaining the crowd. Yang didn't mind listening to it, especially since it was loud popular music. Weiss, on the other hand, appreciated it because of how disciplined all those people were. How could a bunch of band geeks be disciplined for anything? They sure didn't act that way in the stands.

Eventually, a stream of people marched into the tunnel. As soon as they were under the cover of the tunnel though, most started synchronized dancing to the drumline. "What was that about discipline? Yang asked over the new noise in the tunnel.

"I'm guessing it's a traditional thing?" Weiss yelled as the drumline marched past.

 _They were good,_ Halcyon called from the roof, _but I liked Vale's more. Vale's band definitely enjoyed their show more, and it showed._

 _At least you're not easily impressed by people standing at attention._ Yang shot a glance at Weiss, then looked back toward the arena.

 _Actually, I think that's what the students think about. How else can they get the 'super straight lines' and 'cool pictures' that you like?_

Yang rolled her eyes. _Don't be Weiss. You're putting too much thought into it._

One of the staff members in the tunnel waved Weiss and Yang forward. "You're up. One minute."

The blonde Huntress took a deep breath. She let it out and armed her gauntlets at the same time. "Let's get to it." Yang waited until Port announced the match. Weiss and she walked out together, side by side. As they approached the octagon though, Yang noticed that the other team wasn't walking out of their tunnel yet.

Yang stopped in near the edge of the octagon. She stretched out her arms. "Welp, now it's our turn."

"Just remember to keep proper form," Weiss scolded.

Yang sighed. "Alright. You're from Atlas. What could we expect?"

"Well, seeing as their kingdom, academy and armed forces are all merged as one, I think we can expect strict, militant fighters with advanced technology and carefully rehearsed strategies."

Suddenly there was a 'whoosh' sound behind Yang and she tensed up. A trumpet wielding guy appeared out of nowhere, and a brightly colored girl with rainbows coming out her back showed up beside the guy. She held nunchucks and had a tail coming out from beneath her combat skirt. Yang blinked. They were the same people who passed by her team before their first fight. _**These**_ _guys are from_ _ **Atlas?**_

"Or... whatever _they_ are…" Weiss finished.

"Hey!" the guy said. "You're Weiss Schnee, right? The heiress." Yang briefly looked up at one of the screens. Apparently she was up against Flynt Coal and Neon Kat of team FNKI.

"I am!" Weiss replied cheerfully.

"I take you're pretty good with Dust then?"

"I do my best."

"Yeah! My dad was good too! Owned a little Dust shop of his own…'til yo father's company ran him outta business." Yang clenched a fist.

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that." Weiss' head sunk.

Flynt scoffed "Sure you are."

That did it for Yang. "Hey! Why don't you-"

"Hey! Why don't you!" Neon interrupted. Yang practically did a double take and looked at the other girl. "That's what you sound like."

Yang blinked, then rubbed the back of her head. "Uh…"

"Hey! Where did you get your hair extensions?"

"This is just my normal hair…" Yang's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Ooh! Really?"

"Yeah! Is that a prob-"

"You should try rollerblading sometime!" Neon interrupted again. "It's super fun! It'd probably take you a while though since you're so, you know, top heavy."

One of Yang's eyes twitched. The first to things anyone ever notice about her were her hair, and her chest. Usually comments about her hair were positive, and god help those who mock it. Her other natural gift attracted guys, but the problem was the wrong kind of guys. This chick just checked both boxes.

Still, Halcyon wanted Yang to keep her anger in check, so she tried something herself. "So you need to be top light to rollerblade, 'cause all I'm hearing is a bunch of hot air."

Neon still continued. "And what's that thing on your hand? You smack yourself on the head too many times?"

Yang looked down at the silver mark on her right hand. It was there ever since she touched Halcyon for the first time, the first thing her dragon ever gave her. The blonde looked back at Neon and scowled. Halcyon growled from the roof. The other girl stood with that same smirk on her face. Weiss took a small step away from Yang

The randomization process finished, and the city, desert, volcano, and glacier biomes rose out of the floor. Port began the countdown before the different zones locked in place. "Thee." all fighters dropped into a fighting position. "Two!"

Yang's scowl disappeared. _You can insult me all you want, but you don't insult my dragon._

"One!" Weiss shot a nervous glance at Yang, who just nodded in response. "Begin!"

Flynt blew into his trumpet. If the obnoxiously loud sound wasn't enough, there was physical force to the noise. It hit Yang like a sixty-mile-an-hour wind. She put an arm up in front of her face to keep her eyes clear. Weiss created a glyph on the ground that kept her in place.

Neon entered Flynt's literal sound waves and sped toward Yang. Normally, Yang would have been able to dodge out of the way thanks to training with Ruby, but that was when she wasn't already under attack. Neon hit her hard, sending the blonde tumbling backward into the city.

Yang righted herself and started chasing after Neon. She fired several shots at the Faunus, but couldn't land any of them. She fired on the run, but that tanked her accuracy even more than normal. Neon turned a corner and Yang fired several more shots. The Faunus avoided them all again and jumped up to a railing. She pulled the bottom of one of her eyes down and stuck her tongue out at Yang.

After that, Neon somehow jumped from the railing onto the top of a nearby building. Yang fired even more shots at the Faunus, but again, all of them missed. Neon skated around and through destroyed buildings, then rushed at Yang at high speed. She hit hard, but not nearly as hard as the first time. The rapid follow up strikes more than made up for it.

As soon as she had an opportunity, Yang reloaded, and stared at her opponent. Neon smirked, bent her nunchucks like glowsticks, turning them blue. She rushed again, and hit Yang once in the leg. Yang tried to move, but her right leg was frozen solid from the knee down.

Yang glared at Neon, but that only got a laugh from the other girl. "Look! Now you're bottom heavy too!" She slapped her butt to prove her point.

Getting angry, Yang lifted her leg and stomped it back into the ground. Something tugged at the back of her head, and it wasn't another mind. _Fight smarter, not harder._ Before she could do anything else though, Neon came from the other side. Yang raised an arm to defend herself, and it ended up getting frozen.

Temporarily down a hand, Yang could only watch Neon skate around the destroyed city. _She's fast and she knows it. I've beaten Ruby when she gets like this, so how do I take her down._ Her eyes lowered to the roller skates. She saw the next hit coming and just took it. Neon kicked Yang in the chest, and the blonde flew back into a concrete wall.

"You should cool off," Neon chirped. "Get it? Because you're angry."

Yang smirked and slammed her frozen arm against the wall. _I've got you now._ It turns out that was enough to push her over the edge. The familiar red haze made its way around the outside of her vision.

Neon skated toward the central octagon, but Yang only halfheartedly followed. Of course she fired Ember Celica at the retreating Faunus, but she didn't expect to hit any of them. Neon skated over a drawbridge, but quickly skated back around. A quick glance at one of the jumbotrons showed that part of her constant smirk disappeared.

As her opponent approached, Yang fired her gauntlets straight down and flew into the air. She repeated the process twice more, and hung in the air for a second. When gravity took over again, Yang fired straight up and propelled herself to the ground right at Neon. The Faunus dodged though, and Yang slammed into the ground at full speed.

Yang feigned to struggle getting up, then searched for Neon. She found the other girl sitting on a destroyed concrete bench nearby. "Missed!" Neon said flippantly.

"Did I?" Yang stood at full height and motioned to the ground around her. Neon looked down and her smirk disappeared completely. Large cracks and pothole surrounded Yang all around that part of the city. Bits of concrete jutted out at random heights and angles. That had to be a skater's nightmare. "Your move, speedy."

Neon slowly stood up and tried to skate away. She didn't get two feet without tripping up. Yang had her just where she wanted her. She ran at the Faunus and threw a punch at Neon. The Faunus swung one of her nunchucks in defense, but Yang caught it in her fist. As expected, her hand and gauntlet froze solid, trapping the weapon in its own ice.

Yang spun around, yanking the weapon away from its owner. She slammed that fist on a nearby pillar. The ice shattered, leaving her able to use the unfamiliar weapon. Knowing she couldn't though, she threw it as far away from her as she could, hoping it flew over the edge of the arena.

Something in the pillar caught Yang's eye. A fairly straight piece of rebar stuck out of the concrete ground. She grabbed it with both hands and pulled. Now with a makeshift sword, Yang faced Neon. If anything, the rebar was supposed to take the freeze and possibly tie up the remaining nunchuck, leaving Ember Celica free to shoot.

Yang charged and swung the rebar behind her. Neon swung her remaining weapon in preparation. Yang swung her 'sword' at her opponent, and as expected, the nunchuck wrapped around the rebar. This time it didn't freeze, but Yang didn't need it to. She fired the half of Ember Celica pointed at Neon, and hit for the first time.

Neon stumbled backward, and tripped on another crack. Yang could have finished her off right there, but there were unspoken rules in the tournament that stated that you never attack an opponent while they're lying on their back or stomach. Neon struggled to her feet. When she stood fully erect though, Yang launched her offensive. She threw punch after jab after uppercut. Soon after her assault began, Neon flew into a high rise and the buzzer sounded in the arena.

"Ooh, it looks like this pot of gold rejected the rainbow," Oobleck announced. Yang failed to hold back a smirk. The red faded from her eyes and she searched for Weiss and Flynt.

She walked around a corner and saw four Flynts aiming their trumpets at Weiss. They played their horns and Weiss flew backward. She landed on a geyser, which erupted almost immediately. The buzzer sounded, signaling Weiss' defeat. Yang stood in shock from what she just saw. She looked up to one of the jumbotrons. Weiss' Aura was at zero, while Flynt was still in the twenties.

Yang scowled and ran forward. She closed the distance between her and Flynt in seconds. Before the guy could raise his trumpet to defend himself, Yang punched him right in the gut. The powerful hit sent Flynt flying into the sky. While he was in the air, Yang fired several shots at Flynt, essentially juggling him. As Yang emptied her gauntlets of ammo, the buzzer rang again, signaling Flynt's inability to battle, and a second victory for team RWBY.

Yang stood panting for a second, then she remembered what she saw on the jumbotron. "Weiss!" She ran to her teammate's side and skidded to a stop beside her. "Weiss, are you okay?" She helped her partner for the battle sit up. Weiss was coated in soot from the lava.

Weiss coughed a few times, then looked at Yang. "I may not be singing for a while."

Yang sighed, then smiled. "You know, I don't think proper form helped you out too much."

"Oh ha, ha-" Weiss coughed a few more times.

"What?!" a high pitched voice yelled. Yang turned to see Neon walking out of the building she was punched in to. "We lost? We lost? Team FNKI lost? That was…that was…amazing!" Her eyes practically sparkled on the last word. "Oh my gosh you guys were super crazy awesome! We should _definitely_ party together sometime. Right Flynt?"

Flynt slowly picked himself up off the ground and looked over at Weiss. "Gotta admit, Schnee, that smack on you skill was a little premature."

Yang narrowed her eyes at Neon. "Just for future reference, you can insult me all you want, but leave my dragon out of it."

Neon blinked and put her hands on her hips. "When did I say anything about your dragon?"

"Talk to the hand." Yang stuck her right hand up, the silver mark facing the Faunus. Halcyon snorted his agreement from the roof.

Footsteps caught Yang's attention. She turned to see the rest of her team running toward Weiss and her. Ruby and Blake awkwardly slid to a stop behind Yang and Aaron stood just behind them. "Great job you two," Blake said.

"Yeah!" Ruby chipped in. "That was amazing! I didn't know you had that in you, Yang."

"If I didn't know any better," Aaron started with a smirk, "I'd say you were actually thinking out there."

Yang shrugged. "It happens sometimes." She helped Weiss to her feet and the whole team started to walk out of the arena. Before they disappeared down one of the tunnels though, Yang looked to the roof. _Did I do it right?_

Halcyon hummed happily. _Perfectly._

* * *

"I'm going to have to ask the obvious question here," Aaron started as he sat down at the familiar noodle shop, "where's Pyrrha?"

"She was called to talk with Ozpin," Jaune explained.

"I get that she's the favorite to win right now," Yang said, "but shouldn't he meet with _both_ of Beacon's finalists?"

"I don't think this is about the tournament," Ren stated.

"What else could it be?" Nora chirped. "It's not like anything else is going on in the world."

"It is illegal for headmasters to talk with their students about the tournament while they're still in it." Weiss half glared at Nora.

"Oh." Nora sunk into her seat defeated, but that disappeared as soon as a bowl of noodles slid in front of her. Aaron rolled his eyes as his own bowl of noodles slid to a stop in front of him. He liked the food as much of the next person, but it wasn't mood swing inducing. Then again, Nora.

Halfway through the meal, Ruby set her fork down next to her bowl. "I have a bit of an announcement to make." All eyes around the noodle bar turned to Ruby. "It turns out, I have a few official awards coming in my direction after the tournament is over. A Purple Heart, 'cause, well..." she lifted her metal arm off the table.

Ruby sunk into her seat. "The other though, I didn't expect, I don't think its deserved, and hasn't been officially confirmed yet." She took in a deep breath. "Apparently I'm in the process of getting a Remnant Gold Cross."

Jaws hit the table all around, except for Aaron, who had no idea what was going on. "Wait! Hold on a second!" Nora said before chugging a glass of water. She spun around and spat out the whole thing out into the fairgrounds. "What!"

Yang pointed a finger at Nora. "I'm going to have to agree with her on this one, sis."

"How'd you find out about this?" Weiss asked.

"Well, the Purple Heart I found out about in an e-mail. The Remnant Gold Cross though came from a…different source. I ran into Penny and her teammate from their last fight. Apparently Penny's teammate is related to someone who helps administer the awards, and she saw my name when spell checking a list. Apparently that was supposed to be in the e-mail too." Ruby looked at the rest of her team.

While Aaron was still confused, jaws dropped even more. "Would someone please explain what is going on here?"

Weiss stared at Aaron. "If this is true, Ruby will be getting the second highest honor available to Huntsmen for non-Grimm engagements."

"I guess taking down the Nevermores was enough." Yang gently punched her sister's shoulder.

"And I'll be the youngest recipient ever…" Ruby sunk into her stool.

"Ruby," Blake started, "tell us why you don't deserve it."

"I can only guess that it's for what we did at Fort Castle. I got us there, but I didn't do more than anyone else before Atlas showed up. That's another thing, Atlas did most of the work in both places."

"I wasn't there," Jaune started, "but I'm guessing you didn't more than you think there."

"Everyone's been saying that, but I haven't done more than anyone else here."

"Come on, give yourself some credit." Yang put a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Like, twelve percent of the credit."

Ruby gave Yang a small smirk. "You've been watching too much Darvel."

"Is that even possible?" Yang returned the smirk.

Ruby sighed. "The Gold Cross was the last award mom ever got, but dad never said what it was for. I don't think what I did could hope to match her."

"Hey," Yang slipped into her big sister voice, "I know I can't speak for her, but I'm sure she'd be proud of what you did, and probably wonder why you didn't get the Platinum Cross."

"I hate to interrupt," Ren started, "but don't you have some place to be?

Yang waved him off and took out her scroll. "Relax. I've got…" her smirk disappeared. "No time!" She scarfed down what little was left in her bowl and ran into the open ground beside the shop. She stood there for a second, then Halcyon swooped down and grabbed her. The two flew off to Amity Colosseum.

"Well, they've got that technique down," Aaron stated.

"And to think, this time last week he couldn't carry Yang's weight." Ruby smiled up at her sister and her dragon, then looked back to the group at the shop. "I guess that means we should think about heading up there too."

Nora stood up from her chair. "After ice cream!" She grabbed an arm off both Ren and Jaune and practically dragged them toward a popular ice cream shop on the fairgrounds.

"Does anyone else need something down here?" Ruby asked.

"I think Aaron might be suffering from popcorn withdrawal," Blake joked.

Aaron rolled his eyes. "You've been spending too much time around Yang." Blake shrugged in response.

"Well, if I'm not needed, I'm going to fly!" Ruby turned around and walked to the area of the fairgrounds that the dragons rested.

Weiss sighed. "There she goes again. Always in a hurry."

Aaron smirked. "Her Semblance is speed. You expect anything different?"

"Not really." Weiss shook her head. "Well, seating _does_ open soon."

"It's not like we won't have a front row seat," Blake chipped in.

"Arena side is still the best." Aaron turned around and followed in Ruby's tracks. "See you two up there." He walked between the shops and stalls of the fairgrounds. As usual, the rows were filled to the brim with people. Most paid Aaron no mind, as he wasn't in the tournament. Others held out large bags of cotton candy and laughed. The camera just _had_ to be on him when he was eating.

Just before Nalia came into view, Cerise flew overhead. Ruby's cheers mixed with the sound of wind. Aaron smirked. After all these years, he never got tired of flight either.

 _If you want to get up there so much,_ Nalia said, _why don't you get over here._

Aaron looked at his dragon. At the moment, Nalia was 'posing' with a few kids, with their parents taking a picture. There wasn't a line this time, so Aaron just hung back for the family to finish. He walked over to his dragon and slowly climbed into the saddle. _How are you liking all the attention you're getting here?_

 _At least this is faster than people making paintings of me._ Nalia rolled her eyes. _I don't see how any dragons can tolerate sitting completely still for over an hour._

 _The dragons who like it are older, and you were only five months old when that happened last. You weren't exactly ready for sitting still except when sleeping._

Nalia gave a sideways nod. _True. I might have to try it again sometime, give it a second chance._

 _It was an impressive painting._ Aaron finished strapping his legs into the saddle. _I'm ready back here._

 _Expecting some hard flying?_ Nalia raised her wings.

 _Not really, but if you are so inclined…_

Nalia turned her head slightly and gave her best attempt at a smirk. She drove her wings to the ground and took off. Instead of flying right toward Amity Colosseum though, she flew over the fairgrounds toward Beacon. Surprisingly, Cerise also hovered over Beacon. The green dragon moved beside the red.

"You know what's going on?" Ruby called over the sound of the dragon wings.

"Not a clue!" Aaron looked down at his dragon. "Care to explain yourself?"

Nalia and Cerise exchanged a glance. _Two dragon air show,_ they said at the same time.

Aaron smirked and slid his arms into their own restraints. He looked over at Ruby while bent over. "You have these things now right?"

"Yep!" Ruby slid her arms into her custom restraints. They actually looked more stable and solid than his own. Then again, his were made by Brom years ago, and hadn't been changed or altered since.

Cerise looked at Aaron then her own Rider. _You both ready?_

"Just a quick question," Aaron started. "Whose idea was this?"

 _Mine._ Cerise let out a light roar, then shot forward. Nalia followed close on her tail. The two dragons soared low and fast over the fairgrounds. Cerise fell back slightly so green and red flew side by side. Nalia flapped on wing hard, and she rolled upside down over Cerise. The red dragon pulled the same move.

Both dragons then gained height, twirling around each other. They separated a few hundred feet in the air and flipped upside down. Nalia straightened out and flew straight for a few seconds. She stopped midair and turned around in place. Cerise hung in the air directly in front of Nalia.

 _Aaron, free one of your arms and stick it in the air,_ Nalia ordered, then flew straight forward. Cerise also flew forward. Aaron did as he was told, but he had no idea what his dragon had in mind. The dragons sped up and looked like they would crash in midair. At the last second, they rolled to the side, their backs facing each other.

The dragons flew past each other, and Aaron felt his hand hit something solid. Instant regret boiled in him, as well as pain in his hand. _Did I just hit Ruby in the face?_ He looked over his shoulder to look at the other pair.

Ruby looked back and waved with a huge smile on her face. _Aerial high-five. That was_ _ **my**_ _idea._

 _A little warning next time!_ Aaron shook his head, but couldn't hold back a smile. Ruby was certainly impulsive, but that had to look impressive from the ground.

Nalia and Cerise joined back up in the air and flew at a leisurely pace toward Amity Colosseum. _We'd go longer,_ Cerise explained, _but we have a tendency to show up as Nevermores on Atlas' radar._

 _Yeah…That was an interesting day,_ Ruby said. _Let's not have that happen again._

 _I never heard about this._ Aaron turned to look at Ruby.

She rubbed the back of her head with her free hand. _Shortly after the breach, Cerise and I were out flying over the Emerald Forest. We were on our way back when a couple of fighters flew to intercept us. Luckily they weren't those new unmanned versions._

Aaron nodded, then looked forward. _Hopefully Atlas holds their end of the deal,_ he said only to Nalia. _That mix up could get people killed. They already have your blood and scales._

Nalia quietly rumbled her agreement. _We still need to find Queen. We haven't filled our part._

 _We've done more than they have._ Aaron sighed. _Then again, what do expect from a government?_

Nalia and Cerise landed in one of the landing bays. Aaron unstrapped himself and slid off his dragon. He patted Nalia on the neck, then the dragon flew out toward the roof. Cerise flew out right after. "Sorry about the lack of a heads up," Ruby spoke up, still rubbing the back of her head. "I thought about that during one of those last flips. Also, that was my bionic hand…"

" _That's_ why it hurt so much! I thought I hit you in the face." Aaron shook out his right hand. "Well, should we go find out seats?"

"Hopefully they're not taken yet." Ruby turned toward the entrance and Aaron followed. The atmosphere in the concourses was 'electric,' as Yang would say. Aaron didn't even need to stretch his mind out to find out how excited people were. No one was hiding it. Then again, Weiss wasn't up there yet.

Aaron and Ruby took their seats and waited for the finals to start. There was still plenty of time between now and then. The screens were showing fights from past tournaments and advertisements for things around the fairgrounds and downtown Vale. The two teammates just talked about random things, current past due homework included. Of course, Ruby shut Aaron up to watch one of the fights her parents were in.

Eventually, the Colosseum filled up and Weiss and Blake joined their other teammates. JNPR and SSSN sat on either side of RWBY. The clocks around the bowl showed it was almost time for the first fight to begin.

Then the remaining contestants started walking single file into the arena. The crowd exploded into cheers, and Ruby yelled the loudest in the area. The contestants in the arena stopped in the central octagon. Aaron looked over them, and he actually knew four of them.

His gaze lingered on Pyrrha for a second. She looked distracted by something. She wasn't standing proud and smiling at the crowd like she should have been. Instead, she looked at the ground and held one of her arms. Aaron turned to look at JNPR. "Any of you know what's up with Pyrrha?"

Jaune looked between Aaron and Pyrrha. "What are you talking…oh." His eyes widened slightly. "She wasn't like that before she talked to Ozpin."

Before Aaron could ask further, Port spoke over the speakers. "Now for the moment you've all been waiting for! The one on one finals!" The crowd exploded into cheers once again. That went on uninterrupted for a few seconds. "Barty, why don't you explain the rules."

"Uhh, it's quite simple Peter," Oobleck said. "Instead of a bracket system, each round of the finals will be randomly determined immediately before the match takes place."

"Much like any good hunt, there will be zero time to prepare."

"Ahh, yes yes. Now let's see who our first match will be!" All the screens showed two rotating boxes. The first one stopped on Mercury Black. Aaron curled his fists. That guy had to know something about Emerald stealing Vert's egg, and he didn't say anything about it. Guilty by association, as it was called in Vale. The other box stopped on Yang. The green Rider then smirked. While Yang couldn't and wouldn't beat the answers out of Mercury, at least he'd be taken out of the competition.

"Break a leg, sis!" Ruby yelled at the top of her lungs.

Aaron turned to his team leader. "I've heard you say that a few times. Why do you want people to break other's legs?"

"Because it's bad luck to say good luck!" She smiled at Aaron, then scooted forward in her seat. All four dragons looked down into the arena from the roof. The cameras zoomed in on the two combatants as the central octagon and a ring of lights rose from the rest of the floor.

Yang and Mercury raised their fists and slowly approached each other. "Three!" Port boomed as the two closed in. "Two! One!" The combatant's hands nearly touched. "Begin!"

Yang pulled a fist back and swung at Mercury. Her fist met his boot and the impact forced the two away from each other. Mercury then rushed Yang and launched a kick that the blonde easily jumped over. She launched one shell from her one of her gauntlets and moved in for some close quarters combat. Both launched several punches, but neither could get a solid hit. Yang fired one more shell from her weapon and the two separated once again.

Switching tactics slightly, Yang fired several shots from range. Unfortunately, none of those made contact. Mercury launched forward and kicked, but Yang blocked it. The blonde fired a shot but missed high. Mercury then kicked up and landed it under Yang's chin. Yang quickly recovered and fired her weapons while throwing punches at her opponent. She still, the was knocked off balance and barely avoided a diving kick.

From there, it looked like Mercury gained the advantage. He was on an offensive that Yang could only block or dodge. One of his kicks actually broke part of the stage. Even when he was thrown off balance, he shot back up.

At least he was knocked back down from a couple good punches from Yang. Mercury fell flat on his face, but stood up quickly. However, he couldn't backflip out of the way of enough shells from Yang. He started falling out of the arena and it looked like Yang was going to win.

Unfortunately, the guns in his greaves propelled him back onto the stage. Then Mercury really went into overdrive. He Yang wasn't able to throw a punch of her own through her opponent's swinging legs. She was knocked back by a single shot that seemed to track her. Then Mercury spun around on one foot, firing shots off as he went. Some traveled straight for Yang, others spun in a circle around the stage.

Yang moved in while he was distracted, but she wasn't quick enough. With only a few kicks from Mercury, she landed flat on her back Then all the shots that somehow circled the arena fell down onto Yang at high speed, causing dust to fly off the stage.

Aaron blinked at the sight, the looked up to the Aura board. Yang's bar dropped dramatically, but it stopped just before reaching fifteen percent. She was still in this.

As if on cue, half of the stage caught fire. The flames died, leaving a red eyed Yang in their place. She charged Mercury and threw several slow, yet powerful punches, and all of them landed where they should have. She threw a punch to Mercury's stomach, then slammed him back into the ground.

The buzzer sounded and Aaron pumped a fist. The entire crowd burst into applause yet again. "What a way to kick off the finals!" Port said over the speakers.

"Yang Xiao Long wins!" Oobleck announced. Halcyon roared from the roof, then looked back down into the arena. The stage lowered back into the rest of the floor.

"Yeah! You did it, sis!" Ruby cheered, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Way to go, Yang!" Blake yelled.

Aaron clapped hard, with a huge smile on his face. His teammate was moving on, and someone who potentially knew about Vert's egg wasn't.

Then Yang completely froze in place. She stood that way for a few seconds, and Aaron immediately knew what was going on. A growl from Halcyon confirmed it. Yang's mind was being attacked.

Mercury walked over to Yang and cocked his head. Then he lifted one of his legs and kicked Yang in the back of the head. The blonde crumpled to the ground.

Aaron shot out of his seat and clamped onto the concrete railing in front of him. _Honorless bastard!_ There was absolutely no reason for Mercury to attack Yang. He was clearly defeated, but he still got up and attacked from behind.

Up on the roof three dragons growled low and loud. Halcyon stayed silent and just stared into the arena with his jaw dropped. The rest of team RWBY made it to the railing, and it looked like Ruby was just as likely to burst into tears as rip Mercury's head off.

Down on the stage, Mercury walked around Yang, then spat on her hair. That knocked Ruby over the edge. She jumped over the railing and into the arena. Aaron was right behind her. Before he even hit the ground, a line of rose petals extended toward the central octagon. Mercury was knocked of his feet by something Ruby did. The team leader looked at Aaron from halfway across the arena. _Box him!_

Aaron stuck out his right hand and called on his Semblance. He'd only used it a few times since Fort Castle, and only to make a single shield wall in front of him and others. He hadn't even tried doing multiple sides. The Rider imagined four walls and a ceiling around Mercury and put energy into it. Sure enough, a small green room appeared around the honorless warrior.

The effort drained Aaron, but luckily he didn't have to keep it up for long. Stadium guards and androids surrounded Mercury. Luckily, when the walls fell, Mercury put his hands up and didn't go after any of those surrounding him.

The threat taken care of, both Ruby and Aaron rushed to Yang's side. She still hadn't moved since she was hit. Ruby put a hand between her sister's hair and head. She gasped and pulled her hand back. It was coated red.

"Barzul." Aaron looked up at the Aura board. It still tracked Yang's Aura, or it would have if there was any left. By that point, the screens that had cameras on the arena faded to black. At least people wouldn't be able to see Yang's condition in any more detail.

The medics finally arrived at Yang's side. Ruby stepped back to let them work. She wiped her bloody hand on her combat skirt. "I take it it's too dangerous to wake her up?"

"Yeah. In all those biology and medical books I read, waking someone with a head injury up early can do more harm than good."

Yang was lifted onto a stretcher and she moaned. "Yang?" Ruby grabbed her sister's hand. "Yang, can you hear me?

"…Ruby?" Yang's eyes opened slightly, then she closed then quickly. "Too bright."

A couple of the medics exchanged looks. One of them looked down at Yang. "Ms. Xiao Long, can you tell me where we are?"

Yang didn't answer for a few seconds as she gently turned her head. "Amity Colosseum?"

"Who did you just fight with?"

Another silence. "Team FNKI?"

Ruby froze up and the medics exchanged looks again. "We need to move her," the medic who hadn't spoken yet. Both of them grabbed with end of the stretcher and started carrying Yang Away. Ruby didn't leave her sister's side.

Aaron stood in place for a little more and looked around. Mercury was being escorted out of the arena, and hopefully out of the building for good. Up on the roof, Halcyon was being held back by Nalia and Cerise. His head tracked Yang as she was carried away. Weiss and Blake were nowhere to be seen in the stands, most likely making their way to the service tunnels.

The Rider sighed and followed his teammates and medics out of the arena. Their route carried them past the other contestants. Pyrrha looked even more distressed than before, and Sun glared at where Mercury was escorted out. The other contestants were somewhere in between. Aaron paid them no mind, just wanting to make sure his teammate was okay.

* * *

 **Yep. Two fights in one chapter. I really tried to find a way to extend the first part, but nothing worked out. So, here's an extra-long chapter to move the story along. Probably will happen for next chapter too.**

 **On another note, I literally got a massive headache while writing that last part…Just remember, you asked for it.**


	42. Out to Get Us

**Sigh...I swear if this hits 300 favorites when I think it's going to...but then again it might not come to that. I have started writing Act II (before finishing Act I believe it or not) and it might make sense splitting it off into another story. This is just me typing as I think though. One way or the other, you will be informed when the last chapter in Act I is uploaded.  
**

 **Well, after that last bombshell, time to figure things out.**

* * *

Aaron walked through the dorms halls toward team RWBY's room. As expected, Yang was resting ever since she was hit. Ever since the hospital released Yang to her team's custody, she'd been craving doughnuts. Whether it was related to her concussion or not, Aaron could only guess. Either way, he was happy to sate her craving.

As he rounded a corner, he saw Professor Ozpin walk out of his team's room. The headmaster was followed closely by Professor Goodwitch. They stopped in front of the Rider. "Mr. Benson, how is your dragon fairing?" Ozpin asked.

"She's resting, sir. Fighting a few Goliaths can do that to anyone." Aaron narrowed his eyes slightly. "Am I allowed to ask what's happening with Mercury?"

"Since he's a minor, we can't charge him as we would an adult. However, I can tell you that Mercury Black is under house arrest. We cannot tolerate dishonorable fighting."

"Then we agree on something…But you do know there's more to this than it seems, right?"

Ozpin blinked. "I do." He walked past Aaron with his Goodwitch in tow.

Aaron sighed and crossed the remainder of the distance between him and his team's room. He took a deep breath and opened the door slowly. The lights in the room were off and the curtains were only open wide enough for one of Halcyon's eyes to look in. All other members of his team were in the room. Yang lay prone in Blake's bed with an ice pack at the base of her skull. Weiss and Blake sat on the heiress' bed and Ruby sat in a chair right next to her sister.

Yang lifted her head off her pillow slightly. "Who are you?"

Aaron froze slightly, then he saw the slight curl to Yang's lip. "Yang, now's not the time."

"Couldn't resist." She laid her head back down. "Could do without the vertigo though."

"How you doing?"

"Halcyon's trying to help me piece together my memory. It's all there, but I can't remember it normally." Yang sighed. "I kicked Mercury's butt, and I can't even remember it."

"If it makes you feel any better," Weiss began, "It wasn't exactly a butt kicking."

"Slightly." Yang looked 'down' at Aaron and saw what was in one of his hands. "You really got those for me?"

"Nalia's been helping Atlas and other Huntsmen take down a few Goliaths to the southeast. Since they don't want students out there, figured I should do something useful." Aaron handed over the small bag, then looked at Ruby. "What was Ozpin in here for anyway?"

"He came with the results from the hospital." Ruby hung her head. "Just like the medics at the Colosseum said, Yang has a mild concussion. Apparently Mercury's entire team has been banned from the Colosseum for that...last bit before I hit him. He also explained our options for the tournament. Since Yang was intentionally injured outside of the match, we have the option to substitute in one of us, or if Yang's feeling better by the second round, she can compete again. We just need to report to tournament officials at least two hours beforehand what we're going to do. Or we could just forfeit."

"Yeah, we're not quitting." Yang slightly shook her head. "One of you is taking my place if I can't do it."

"What happened down there, anyway?" Blake asked

"Halcyon is still working on that," Yang lightly snapped. "We've been over this, I can't remember." She blinked, then sighed. "Sorry, I don't know where that came from."

"It's your concussion, Yang. Don't worry too much," Ruby soothed. She turned to Aaron. "Are you sure there's nothing you can do to help?"

Aaron shook his head. "Head injuries are more advanced work. I was just getting started on medical specialization when Vroengard fell. That doesn't mean I won't look for a way to fix it though." He sighed. "As for what happened down there, I have a guess. I've seen people freeze up the way Yang did. Halcyon's growl confirmed it. Someone was attacking her mind."

Ruby looked between Aaron and Yang. "But the only ones who can do that are us three, Velvet, and our dragons. None of us would do that."

"People do have telepathic Semblances," Weiss corrected. "They're rare, but how many people can fit into the Colosseum? I wouldn't be surprised if someone in there had something to do with it."

 _The attack was focused,_ Halcyon explained, _but unlike any attack we've felt before. As such, we had a hard time defending from it. I'm not entirely sure we did._ The proud dragon whimpered. _If we were able to force it back, Yang might not have been hit like that._

"Ay you," Yang turned to look at her dragon, "don't beat yourself up like that. I'm pretty sure we did all we could."

"Why would someone do this?" Ruby asked, for most likely the umpteenth time.

Aaron sighed. He kept the bounties secret from them, and now Yang was seriously injured. "I'm not saying it's the reason Mercury did it, but there's a price on all our heads."

Silence reigned in the room. Yang propped herself up on her elbows to look at Aaron. The pupil in Halcyon's visible eye shrank to a slit. "What do you mean?" Blake finally asked. "White Fang?"

"The remnants of the Nevermores?" Ruby slumped into her chair and hugged herself.

"Yes and no." Aaron shook his head. "There's been a bounty on our heads for a while now. Someone might be trying to cash in."

"And when were you planning on telling us this?" Weiss demanded. "How long _have_ you known this?"

"Since we faced the Nevermores in the Emerald forest. I didn't find out about Velvet and Vert from a transmission in the downed Bullhead. One of the Nevermores had a scroll that had all of our faces on it, with hefty price tags underneath our names. Whoever placed those bounties wanted the dragons alive and the rest of us dead.

"As for when I was going to tell you, for whatever reason I thought the bounties died with the Nevermores. With how stressed everyone was beforehand, telling you wouldn't have helped. Afterward, there wasn't any need. But now...I don't think we can discount the possibility that Mercury was trying to cash in."

Ruby shot a low intensity glare at Aaron while still hugging herself. "You should have told us Aaron. We might have been able to stop this from happening."

 _Yang could have had her mind shielded before anything happened,_ Halcyon growled. _We might have been able to help her out so she could defend herself!_

"Didn't you just say we had a hard time defending because it was different than all the other mental attacks we've experienced?" Yang laid back down on her ice pack pillow. "Seriously, even if we did know, what could we have done differently? Let the attack through? Something bad would have happened then too."

"Probably." Aaron brought a hand to his chin. "Still, how did Mercury knock down so much of Yang's Aura with one kick?"

"I've been wondering that too." Weiss crossed her arms. "The solid hits he landed didn't knock down half as much as that last one. Aura doesn't have a weak spot. I can't see any way that could happen."

 _Yang may have an explanation for that,_ Halcyon chipped in.

Yang looked at her dragon. "I take it I noticed something in the fight?"

 _You were thinking something felt off when you blocked his kicks._

"Let's figure it out then." Yang closed her eyes and leaned back into her pillow. Everyone in the room stayed silent as Halcyon worked with Yang to try and recover anything useful. Yang's eyes moved underneath her eyelids, the only sign that anything was going on.

About a minute in, Yang broke the silence. "That's what's going on…" She opened her eyes and sat up slowly, sliding her legs off the side of the bed. "Ruby, I know this sounds weird, but I want you to kick my legs."

Ruby blinked. "What?"

"There was something different about those hits, and it wasn't just the fact that his weapons are his greaves." Yang took her scroll out of her pocket. "It's not the first time I felt it either. It started after you got your bionics."

"…Okay." Ruby stood in front of her sister. "Both, or just my bionic?"

"Both. I need a baseline. Don't hold back on your left leg though." Ruby nodded, then swung her left leg. It made contact, and Yang didn't even flinch. "Okay now try and match that with your other." Ruby complied, and this time on impact, there was a slight metallic ring.

"Full strength?" Ruby asked hesitantly.

Yang nodded. "Do it." Ruby swung her leg back, then launched in forward. This time, the metallic clang was a lot louder and Yang actually winced. "Okay, I think that proves it. Mercury has at least one bionic leg."

"But it should have been powered down before the match," Weiss pointed out. "It's an illegal fight if it wasn't."

"I have a concussion to prove that it wasn't." Yang slowly laid back down on her borrowed bed.

"They should have known about it, at least." Ruby sat back down. "I know I had to fill out a lot of forms after I got mine."

"What if the people in the Colosseum didn't know, or thought that they already powered it down?" Aaron mused. "I mean think about it. We know someone else mentally attacked Yang, it's not too much of a stretch to say that whoever did that could affect the people in charge of that." He blinked. "It also might make sense to say that's also how Emerald stole Vert's egg without anyone seeing."

"Isn't that jumping to conclusions?" Blake asked.

"Isn't there something called guilty by association here? I still think Mercury knows something about the egg theft, and he hasn't said anything."

"There is no law dealing with association in that way," Weiss interjected, "but I can see why you'd think that is real." She winced. "We all know I thought that at some point."

"So what are we going to do about it?" Yang asked.

Ruby shrugged. "There's not much we can do. We can tell Ironwood about Mercury's leg, and that might bring up actual criminal charges. Emerald, it's all just speculation. We don't even have anything on her for stealing Vert's egg."

"I'm thinking this situation might be better left to Atlas." Aaron looked at Weiss and Blake. "I might have to teach you two how to shield your minds now. It's not something us Riders can learn."

"I can see how that would be useful," Weiss commented.

"I'd rather not be left open either," Blake said.

"I can get into more specifics later, but the basic premise is focusing on one image in your head, and that's all that the attacker can see, or repeating a phrase over and over and that's all they get."

"I can help test your defenses if you want," Ruby offered.

"Sorry, but I've got to take off." Aaron straightened out his hat. "Nalia wanted me to check in with all of you before I worked on some of her minor wounds. Ruby, have to tell me how you unlocked Cerise' Aura sometime soon. That could save us some trouble in the long run."

Ruby nodded. "Will do."

"Well, see you all later." Aaron left his team's room and proceeded toward the Dragonhouse. Hopefully Nalia wouldn't be too upset at losing a large section of her scales.

* * *

"I hate to sound rude," Yang began, "but could you all leave the room for a bit? I'd like to try and take a nap before the next round begins.

"We'll get out of your hair," Blake said as she stood up.

Ruby stood up as well and turned the projector for their holographic screen toward Yang. She looked at the curtains and Halcyon just beyond them. "You want the curtains closed or like they are now?"

"Closed. I can't expect Halcyon to block the sun this whole time."

 _I can if you want me to,_ Halcyon said to the sisters.

"Go get something to eat," Yang ordered. "You've been putting that off for too long." Halcyon huffed, then his eye disappeared from the window.

Ruby quickly pulled the curtains together, then put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Just call if you need anything." She then walked out of the room behind Weiss and Blake. Before she closed the door though, she took one last look at Yang. She sighed and closed the door behind her.

"She doing okay?" Jaune stuck his head out of his room. Ruby belatedly noticed team JNPR minus Pyrrha standing in their door. The champion fighter stood way in the back.

"She's doing the best she can," Blake said.

"She's doing a lot better than you'd think actually," Ruby said. "She's working on getting her memory back, and she can think clearly. She's trying to sleep now, so you probably don't want to disturb her."

"Do you know what happened to Mercury?" Nora asked, her eyes burning.

"He's under house arrest, whatever that means here," Weiss explained. "I don't even know if he's been separated from his team. If you see him walking around though," Weiss looked straight at Nora, "feel free to break his legs."

Nora nodded, a wicked smile on her face. "Will do."

"If there's anything we can do," Ren started, "please don't hesitate to ask."

"Alright then, if that's the case, Pyrrha?" Ruby looked at said fighter. Pyrrha looked at Ruby as she sat down on her bed. "Be sure to win a clean one for Beacon, okay?"

"It's what Yang would want," Weiss agreed.

Pyrrha looked down, then smiled. "I'll do my best."

"I'll be sure to watch tonight in case you're picked!" Ruby turned to the other two members of her team as Jaune closed the door. "I'm going to go catch some more fights. I'll see you two later." She walked off down the hall and left the building. In truth, she actually wanted to see if there were any other funny things going on at the tournament. _Cerise, where are you?_

 _I'm with Vert and Velvet by the docks,_ came the immediate response. _Vert's getting onto an airbus right now. We'll be ready to go in a few minutes._ Ruby walked with purpose toward her dragon. Cerise stayed in Ruby's head during that whole conversation in the dorm room. She was all caught up, but the other pair wasn't, most likely.

As she walked, Ruby saw a familiar person walking in the exact opposite direction. "Hey Uncle Qrow," she called as she waved.

Qrow took notice and walked over toward Ruby. "Hey, kiddo. How's your sister doing?"

"I think she's doing pretty well, all things considered. Right now, all she has is memory loss, dizziness and a headache. She could be much worse off."

"She awake?"

"Maybe, but not for long. She said she was going to try and take a nap before the next round starts."

"Then I'll have to suffer her wrath if she is. I've got some important things to talk to her about. See you around." Qrow continued on his previous path, and Ruby on hers.

Ruby walked around a corner and was treated to the rather comical sight of Vert climbing onto an airbus. Or, it would have been comical if Vert could actually fly. Nearby, Velvet was taking pictures of Sun. Ruby walked over to her friend.

Velvet turned around and smiled. "Ruby, how are you doing?"

"Hi Velvet!" Ruby returned. "What are you up to?"

"Oh, you know - just working on my photography. Do you wanna see?" Velvet turned her camera so Ruby could look.

Before they went to Fort Castle, Ruby's would have thought that the frame was way off. After Aaron explained what happened when they defended Vert, and Velvet's quick explanation of her weapon, Ruby saw enough of what was needed to make a replica.

"Ooh. If you ever need more of Crescent Rose, just let me know."

Velvet nodded. "Will do. I think I'm good for now though." She paused. "I'm sorry to hear about what happened to Yang. Is she doing okay?"

"Yeah, she's... fine. Well, fine for having a concussion. At least her Aura will help repair some of the damage quickly."

"Nothing we can do?"

Ruby shook her head. "Aaron doesn't know enough about concussions, so he doesn't want to risk making it worse."

"Do you have any idea why Mercury did it?"

"Well, uh…" Ruby tapped the side of her head. _Apparently there's a bounty on us right now._

Velvet blinked rapidly and froze up. _How long?_

Ruby rubbed the back of her neck and looked down. _Sometime before Fort Castle._

The rabbit Faunus visibly shook. _Oh…That's why that happened._ Vert snapped his head around and hummed sadly. Something passed between them that Ruby couldn't hear.

Ruby put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Hey, the Nevermores are gone. We don't have to worry about them anymore." For a second, Ruby wondered if she was talking to Velvet or herself.

"Yeah…" Velvet shook her head. "Do you know what happened right before Yang got hit? That didn't look normal."

"Aaron said that her mind might have been under attack." Ruby crossed her arms and scowled. "None of us would do that, so there's someone in the Colosseum out to get at least Yang."

Velvet nodded, then blinked. "Come to think of it, Coco might have been affected by something similar. She said she saw Yatsu with her in the forest, but he never left the geyser fields. Apparently they were 'stressed based hallucinations,' but I've never seen her stressed out."

"Velvet!" Coco called from beside the airbus. "Pilot says we're ready to go."

"Coming Coco," Velvet yelled toward her team leader, then turned back to Ruby. "Well, see you up there, I guess." She turned around and walked toward the airbus. Just before she stepped inside. Vert drooped his snout over the side and brushed it against the side of Velvet's face.

Ruby put on a small smile and turned to her own dragon. Cerise' eyes were focused on Vert, but she settled down on her belly for Ruby to climb up. _I can't wait for the day someone says 'Nevermores' and no one freezes up._ The dragon said sadly.

 _You and me both._ Ruby climbed up into her saddle. _We'll get through it, one day at a time._ Cerise nodded and took off.

The dragon flew straight toward Amity Colosseum ahead Vert's transport. About halfway there, the airbus passed Cerise, who took that as a challenge. She flapped her wings harder to put herself in front again. The airbus never changed speed, and the red dragon made it to the landing bay about ten seconds before the airbus. She 'smirked' at Vert as his transport touched down. _Beat you,_ she said, letting the Riders hear as well.

 _No fair, I'm not using my own power._ Vert's head drooped to the roof of the airbus. _If I had use of my wings, I would have beat you._

 _Keep telling yourself that._

Ruby patted her dragon's shoulder. "I'm going to find a seat."

Cerise hummed then nudged her Rider with her snout. _Have a good time down here without me._ She walked past Vert's airbus and flicked him with her tail as she walked.

Ruby thought she turned as red as her hood as she turned around. At that point, it was no secret to anyone that Cerise liked Vert. Ruby had to deal with it the most because some of her dragon's emotions leaked over occasionally. It was still weird to her that a few month old dragon could like another even younger dragon in that way. Then again, they weren't human or Faunus. Different rules applied.

She walked through the concourse and found her normal seating section. As always, Ruby was very early to the arena. Her eyes were glued to the jumbotron to see if any of her parents' fights would be shown. Unfortunately, nearly half an hour later, nothing, and the pre-match announcements started.

As Ruby looked around the stadium, a familiar face caught her eye. Someone that shouldn't be there. She stood up and her bionic eye automatically focused on the person. Emerald sat on the exact opposite side of the stadium from her.

Ruby narrowed her eyes and left the stands. Emerald was _not_ supposed to be there. She stretched her mind out to the only other Rider in the Colosseum. _Velvet, we may have trouble. Emerald's here._

 _What?_ came Velvet's response. _I thought I heard she was banned after what happened with Mercury._

 _Either security's not as tight as we think, or there's something going on here. Keep an eye out for anything strange._ Ruby walked into one of the halls into the main concourse. She needed to get to the other side with a low chance of being seen by those who could potentially be hostile. A maintenance hallway caught her eye. That should have nearly direct access to the other side. She quickly looked around herself and walked in.

Ruby jogged down the tunnel for about a hundred feet when someone stepped out of a side room. She stopped in her tracks and scowled. "What are you doing here Mercury?" The guy just smirked. Ruby stretched her mind out to everyone on her team and Velvet. _We have a major problem! Mercury is here!_

 _Where is 'here?'_ Aaron answered almost immediately.

 _Amity Colosseum maintenance tunnels. I might need backup._

"It looks like our first contender is...Penny Polendina from Atlas!" Ports voice echoed through the tunnels. "And her opponent will be... Pyrrha Nikos from Beacon!"

For a second, Ruby was disappointed that she was going to miss a good fight, then the reality hit her. "No…"

"Ooh, polarity versus metal." Mercury brought a hand to his chin "That should be interesting."

Ruby narrowed her eyes. Somehow he knew about Penny, and he sounded like he knew that this matchup was coming. Ruby thought about taking what Mercury knew by force. It was something she wouldn't have even considered early in the day yesterday, then Mercury gave Yang a concussion because someone else mentally assaulted Yang.

She started her attack, and immediately Mercury's smirk disappeared. This was the first time Ruby forcefully searched someone else's mind for something, and apparently it was hurting Mercury. He clasped both hands to the side of his head and groaned. The Rider felt the tiniest bit of guilt for intentionally causing someone pain, but then she remembered what this guy did to Yang.

As Ruby searched, she ran across something she didn't expect to find. It was a memory of some warehouse in Vale. Emerald and Cinder were there, but that wasn't weird. They were teammates. However, Torchwick, Neo, and several White Fang soldiers also milled around.

Ruby 'listened' as Cinder laid out a plan to take out Vale, Ozpin, and someone named Amber. They were going to use the fight between Penny and Pyrrha to start a Grimm invasion.

"Slytha." Mercury crumpled to the ground and started snoring. Ruby ran passed the criminal and toward the other end of the Colosseum. _Everyone! Grab your weapons! We might have a major Grimm and White Fang attack in the next few minutes._

 _Wait, what?_ Yang asked, sounding surprisingly clear. _How did you-_

 _No time to explain! Someone tell Ozpin or Ironwood what's going on. Penny's and Pyrrha's fight has to stop now!_

 _Need me to do anything?_ Velvet and Cerise asked at the same time.

 _Make sure Pyrrha's and Penny's minds are clear. I'll handle Emerald._ Ruby ran into the door at the end of her tunnel and found herself in one of the hallways leading to the bowl. She looked out into the arena in time to see Penny disarm Pyrrha. In the first row of seating Emerald leaned forward.

Then things started happening. Penny raised all of her swords and aimed them at Pyrrha. The champion then staggered where she stood. Cerise growled from the roof. _She's seeing thousands of blades. It you're going to do something, Ruby, now would be the time._

Ruby leaned against a wall and tried to look interested in the fight, then she threw a mental dagger at her own opponent. _Two can play at the mind game, Emerald._ The green haired girl grabbed onto her head. Down in the arena, Penny launched her swords at Pyrrha. The champion used her Semblance to deflect most of the swords, and grabbed onto the last one.

Emerald looked back and up at Ruby. The Rider just flicked her eyes down and gave a smirk and a small wave. _We know what you did and what you're planning to do. Ozpin is being told right now, and I'm sure he'll have the fight called off. I suggest you come with me now before you-_

Another mind entered Ruby's. The Rider froze and scowled. How could Emerald attack her when her own mind was under attack? She was about to counterattack when a hand fell on her shoulder. "There you are, dog."

Ruby's eyes shot straight forward and the red heart rate monitor appeared in the upper right corner of her vision. She almost literally froze up as she felt all the heat leave her body. When her body moved, it shook uncontrollably. While she may have been on King Taijutu venom when she everytime heard that voice, it was burned into her memory forever.

The girl slowly turned around and the hand came off her shoulder. When Ruby saw the man, she couldn't breath and her eyes widened to their fullest. Her throat made some sort of squeaking noise.

Granite O'Donnell, the boss at the Nevermore base to the north, stood in front of her.

"You and your oversized salamander have caused me and my boys a whole lot of trouble," Granite said with a growl, "and now you're going to pay."

Ruby tried to take a step backward, but she tripped over her own feet. She fell to the ground, and instead pushed herself away using her feet. She vaguely noticed other minds trying to enter her own.

Granite took a few steps back and stopped right in front of two other people. One of them was the 'doctor' that stapled in the dog ear. The other was the creep that applied the punch 'sedative' and slammed her head against the back wall. _How did these people get here?_ was the only thought to pass through Ruby's head.

"My dog's sick, doc," Granite said with fake concern. "Is there anything you can do for it?"

The 'doctor' shook his head. "I'm afraid not. It'll have to be put down."

Granite sighed. "Oh well." He took a knife out of a hidden holster at his side. He grinned evilly at Ruby. "You brought this upon yourself."

Ruby's eyes stared at the knife, and almost her whole body stopped listening to her. She could only feel her mouth, and she used it. She screeched louder and higher than ever before in her life.

Shortly after that, the Nevermores' outlines started to fade. The colors became blurry and completely shifted. Seconds later, Yatsuhashi, Coco, and Fox stood in their places. All of them wore looks of shock and fear. Coco wasn't even wearing her new sunglasses.

Tears finally made it to Ruby's eyes as she struggled to find her voice. She locked eyes with the one who seconds before was her kidnapper. "Y…Ya…Yatsu?"

"Yes, yes!" Yatsuhashi said. "It's us!"

An angry voice yelled something from the side, but Ruby couldn't tell what it was. She bolted to her feet and quickly closed the distance between the two of them. She practically tackled when she hugged him. Velvet said that outside of battle, Yatsuhashi was a big softie. That's exactly what Ruby needed at the moment.

Ruby shook and sobbed uncontrollably as she hugged the big guy. "Damnit…" Coco said off to the side. "Velvet, where are you?" Whether she was talking into a scroll, or didn't understand the concept of mental communication, Ruby didn't care.

The two minds that pounded against Ruby's finally were let in. _Ruby! Are you okay?_ Yang asked, concern dripping off her.

 _Gem, what happened?_ Cerise sent calm and loving feelings over their metal link, though it wasn't nearly enough.

 _Emerald attacked me…I thought CFVY were the Nevermores that kidnapped and tortured me…_

Rage mixed in with all the other emotions sent from her family. _Ozpin knows,_ Yang said angrily, _Uncle Qrow knows, one of them should get it to Ironwood._

 _Emerald won't be hurting anyone for a while,_ Cerise growled. _Velvet knocked her out cold. The match is over, and neither warrior is injured._

Ruby started to calm down, then a blue envelope outline appeared under the heartrate monitor, and opened without Ruby wanting it to. It was a single word from Penny: Help.

Ruby peeled her face off Yatsuhashi's armor and slowly turned to look into the arena. Penny was sprawled out on the ground and her swords were scattered across the octagon. Pyrrha apparently won. Ruby couldn't tell what was wrong.

Then Penny's chest exploded.

Once again, Ruby's throat constricted to painful levels. Her legs refused to carry her weight, and she slid off Yatsuhashi. She swung her hands around so she wouldn't fall flat on her face. "Penny…" Without her asking, the blueprints Penny provided covered the right side of her vision. Unfortunately, she knew from looking over all the schematics several times before that there wasn't anything that Penny provided that could have failed like that.

There were voices trying to speak in Ruby's head, but she couldn't hear them. She looked down at the floor, not able to process everything else. One of her friends just died, and a lot more people were likely to, all because she failed.

* * *

 _Ruby!_ Cerise yelled. _Gem!_ No response came from her partner-of-her-heart-and-mind. She then realized why her soulmate wasn't responding. _She can't hear me…_

 _Cerise, what's going on?_ Ruby's-nestmate-Yang asked.

 _I don't know, but I can't get through to her._ Cerise wished the see-through-shock-wall wasn't there, this time so she could comfort her soulmate more closely, and take down the one who was causing her so much pain.

Cerise looked at the place-of-honor-fights where the fight was still going on, then back at her partner-of-her-heart-and-mind. Ruby would want both fighters to be looked after, but Cerise didn't want her Rider to isolate herself again.

 _Cerise, I'll look after Pyrrha,_ Vert said. _You take care of Ruby._

The red dragon immediately threw all her strength at Ruby's unintentional mind-walls. Yang joined in soon after. While Cerise' mind worked on her Rider, her eyes focused on the other two-legs. Color-letter-team-CFVY stood in front of Ruby with open mouths. Other two-legs stood to the sides, staring, yelling, or holding their glowing-flat-scrolls.

A spike of pure terror shot of Ruby, and she shrieked. The fighting in the place-of-honor-fights stopped, and most focus in the impossible-flying-building turned toward the sound. Cerise almost jumped onto the see-through-shock-wall to try and fly down there. _RUBY!_ She quickly switched her attention to Emerald. Enraged, she assaulted the mind-manipulator's mind to stop the attack. Emerald's hands clamped onto both sides of her head. Then she inexplicably collapsed to the side.

 _I got her,_ Velvet told Cerise. Pyrrha and Penny resumed their fight.

The dragon sent the two-leg-rabbit-ears her thanks, then focused back on Ruby. She hugged Velvet's-friend-Yatsuhashi. Her mind-walls were falling by themselves, and Cerise and Yang gently forced their way in. _Ruby! Are you okay?_ Yang asked her sister.

 _Gem, what happened?_ Cerise lowered her head to just above the see-through-shock-wall.

 _Emerald attacked me…_ Ruby said slowly. _I thought CFVY were the Nevermores that kidnapped and tortured me…_

Cerise growled and glared at the sleeping mind-manipulator. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Pyrrha knock Penny to the ground and the detached-buzzing-sound played.

Yang's rage accompanied Cerise'. _Ozpin knows_ , _Uncle Qrow knows, one of them should get it to Ironwood._

 _Emerald won't be hurting anyone for a while_. _Velvet knocked her out cold. The match is over, and neither warrior is injured._ Cerise failed to keep her anger completely out of her mental voice.

Suddenly, all the two-legs in the auditorium collectively gasped. Cerise looked at the place-of-honor-fights. Ruby's-friend-Penny was missing part of her chest.

As much as Cerise was concerned about what happened there, she was horrified about how Ruby reacted. _Ruby, listen to me! This wasn't your fault! Gem, please don't shut me out._ But it was too late. Her partner-of-her-heart-and-mind had sealed her mind once again.

* * *

 **Yep. All that work and Penny still 'dies.' I do have a reason behind it, though I don't know how realistic it is. I'm no electrical engineer.**

 **Anyway, I'm still waiting for someone to get the 'Ay you' pun….**


	43. Battle of Beacon

**Time for the Battle of Beacon. Prepare for head hopping, 'cause things are gonna happen.**

* * *

Both Cerise and Yang tried to get into Ruby's head, but nothing worked. Ruby wasn't shielding her mind, but she wasn't listening either. Cerise worried for her partner-of-heart-and-mind. Ruby had never shut her out before, not even after being taken by the black-monster-bird slave organization. This wasn't like her Gem at all.

The giant-fake-reality-screens flashed before turning the color of Cerise' scales. An almost familiar black symbol took up the center of each screen. "This is not a tragedy." A no-bodied-voice said. "This was not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians. But are, in reality, are nothing more than men.

"Our Academies' headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to control both. They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have we here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army brought low by a simple teenager. What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference."

Cerise looked down to the place-of-honor-fights at Ruby's-friend-Penny. From everything Ruby said, fake-person-Penny had no hostile intents, only taught to defend two-legs. Now, Penny had passed into the void.

"And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither."

The red dragon growled. _Open your eyes, then._

"Perhaps Ozpin as thought defeating Atlas in the Tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded its streets. Or perhaps, this was his message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting Kingdom with armed forces. How he thought he could do this with children who are afraid of their own shadow is anyone's guess.

"We can't count on these new Dragon Riders either." Both Cerise and Vert growled on the roof. "While they may have defeated a major criminal organization, it took their members being kidnapped for them to do anything."

Cerise eyes narrowed and she curled her claws. The metal screeched as she destroyed the fake-ground she stood on. No one targeted her partner-of-her-heart-and-mind-Ruby, or her potential-future-mate-Vert. _I will kill you for that._

"All of them are mentally and physically damaged in some way from their encounters, so much so that two of those competed in this tournament couldn't defend themselves, and the other can't tell the difference between friend or foe."

 _She defended Fox!_ Vert growled. Cerise' own growl deepened as she stared at the fake-reality-screens. Whoever the no-body-voice belonged to had hell coming their way.

"Honestly? I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong. But I know that the existence of peace is fragile. And the leaders of our Kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves. The Dragon Riders have a deal in place to have free reign over Remnant, with the command of one of them. As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you; the situation there is…equally undesirable. Our Kingdoms are at the brink of war. Yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark. So I ask you, when the first shots are fired, who do you think you can trust?" The giant-fake-reality-screens faded to black and white.

Movement to her right caught Cerise' eye. She looked out into the night and saw several black-bird-monsters flying toward her. She growled and quickly put herself between Vert and the evil-beast-Grimm. _Ruby, I need you back my Gem._

Cerise roared a challenge at her incoming prey. Vert did the same, though much less confident. The first black-monster-bird charged at Cerise, and the red dragon swatted it out of the sky, breaking its wing. Two more flew in and Cerise clamped her jaws around one black-bird-monster, crushing its neck. She turned to take out the second, only to see Vert tear off a chunk of its wing…

…Right before Vert was forced off the fake-metal-ground. Cerise eyes widened as she jumped after her potential-future-mate. Vert couldn't fly long distances, and the giant-flying-building was not close to the break-bone-ground. He snapped his wings open, but his left wing quickly collapsed.

Cerise flew underneath Vert and caught him on her back. She strained to stay in the air and on the correct course. Carrying things on her back strained her wing muscles. She would have wrapped her claws around Vert, but after being held captive, he didn't take being restrained well.

The red dragon flew to the Dragonhouse at castle-school-Beacon and landed hard. The large front door opened and teacher-Nalia and hatchmate-Halcyon stepped out. Both helped get flightless-Vert of Cerise' back. _Are you good to fly?_ Nalia asked Cerise.

 _I'll manage._ Cerise rolled out her shoulders and wings. _Ruby needs her weapon, and I have it._ She looked to her saddle and saw Ruby's Crescent Rose still attached to the side.

Nalia nodded. _We need a plan. A level nine Grimm attack is the second largest. It's not impossible to defend from, but it's incredibly difficult. Then again, they've never had dragons to assist._ The three younger dragons rumbled their agreement. _Cerise, you and I will be what the two-legs here call close air support. We will-_

A massive explosion interrupted Nalia. Cerise turned her head to look at the source of the noise. One of Atlas' flying-metal-ships was smoking, then crashed into another. Nalia growled. _Actually, we might be the only air support. That last flying-metal-ship shot the other two. Cerise, you fly over Beacon and take out any Grimm here. I'll take the skies over Vale._

 _Got it,_ Cerise nodded.

 _Vert, I'm sure Velvet will get down here shortly. Stay close to her, and watch her back. I don't want you to take unnecessary risks._ The youngest dragon nodded. _Halcyon, you're in a slightly better position than Vert. Stay here and help out. This goes to all of you. If you see a Goliath, tell me immediately. I'm the only one here strong enough to kill them._

 _All of our Riders will likely be needed elsewhere, so we'll mostly be fighting on our own. That doesn't mean we're weak. We are stronger than any individual Huntsman and soldier, and look what they can do to Grimm._ Nalia stomped a foot on the ground. _It's time to show Remnant why we're the kings and queens of the sky!_

All the dragons looked to the sky and roared. Nalia let loose a jet of green flame. When they lowered their heads, Halcyon growled. _We've got company._

Cerise turned around and glared at the metal-transport-bird landing area. Several large-metal-bull-birds hovered over it. Some let evil-beast-Grimm out from their stomachs, others let human-hater-White-Fang out. _Ruby said they'd be here,_ Cerise growled.

 _You all know what to do,_ Nalia said. _Give them hell._

Cerise sprinted forward snarling all the way. The two-leg-animal-parts soldiers shot their small-Dust-arrows at the dragon, but her shield-Aura kept them from piercing her scales. She jumped for one of the large-metal-bull-birds and swatted one if its wind-makers. The large-metal-bull-bird then crashed to the ground. A red-haired-two-leg-animal-parts tried to slash at Cerise' tail, but she flew out of reach quickly.

The red dragon turned her attention to the impossible-flying-building, but more importantly, her partner-of-her-heart-and-mind-Ruby. She was still where she was when Cerise left, in the same state of mind. _Ruby! We need your help!_

* * *

 _Ruby! We need your help!_

"…Cerise?" Ruby slowly raised her head. Instead of looking at her dragon though, she locked eyes with another Rider. "Velvet?"

"Yes," Velvet sighed. "You've been kneeling like this for a few minutes."

"What?" Ruby looked past Velvet into the bowl of Amity Colosseum. The stands were almost completely empty. "What's going on?"

"Level nine Grimm attack, we have to get-" Velvet was interrupted by a giant Nevermore slamming into the arena. A massive gust of wind blew everywhere in the bowl.

Ruby climbed to her feet to get a good look at the beast. This one had to as big or bigger than Nalia, and that was saying something. _What happed to Cerise?_ Then she looked to the arena floor. Pyrrha stood motionless in front of the monster.

The red Rider clenched her fists. She already lost one friend today. She wasn't losing another.

Ruby activated her Semblance and sprinted into the arena. She grabbed one of Penny's swords as she ran. While she wasn't as comfortable with a sword as she was with her scythe, she could be deadly with any weapon.

The Huntress jumped up and stabbed the Nevermore in the chest with the borrowed sword. She kicked off its chest and landed between Pyrrha and the Grimm. "Leave her alone!" Ruby shouted at the oversized bird.

The creature took flight. It flew around the bowl several times before aiming for Ruby. The Rider prepared to fight it off when several somethings hit the Nevermore in the back. Only when the creature came to a stop right in front of Ruby did she see that they were rocket lockers. Soon, several other students climbed onto Nevermore to claim their weapons. If they weren't there, Ruby would have killed the Nevermore on the spot.

Suddenly, the Nevermore screeched and started to get up. Those still on it scattered, or stayed and fought. Ren ran up the bird's back, then slammed the point of one of his sickles into an eye on the Grimm. Arslan wrapped a ribbon around the Nevermore's head, then swooped down and grabbed Yatsuhashi. Sage also jumped high into the air. Still on the Grimm's back, Nora jumped off and slammed her hammer down on the creature's head. Now in position, Sage and Yatsuhashi fell and used their massive swords to decapitate the Nevermore.

As the Grimm evaporated, Ruby turned to Pyrrha. "Ruby, I…" Any trace of the champion fighter's normal attitude was gone. Pyrrha stared at what looked like a piece of Penny's shirt. Tears dripped down her face. "I'm so sorry."

Ruby also lowered her head. "Me too…but it wasn't your fault."

"She's right," Jaune said coming in from the side, holding Pyrrha's sword and shield. "Whoever was on the microphone, they're the ones that did this. And we have to make sure they don't take anyone else." Ruby nodded. She just watched one friend die, no more were going to that day.

Ruby looked at all the assembled students. It was a formidable squad, even though she was the only member from her team there. Heavy weapons mixed with light, long and short range. These guys would be able to hold of a substantial amount of Grimm.

A roar rolled over the top of the Colosseum, and not from a dragon. Ruby looked up and saw several Grimm look over the edges. "Griffons," Ren stated the obvious.

"Anybody got a plan of attack?" Neptune asked no one in particular.

Ruby turned her head to the sky. "Cerise, I need my weapon."

 _Already on it._ A couple of Griffons turned their heads around right before they were plowed into by Cerise' shoulders. The Grimm started evaporating in the air as the red dragon reached back a claw and pulled at something. Ruby then saw Crescent Rose falling through the air. She caught it and immediately fully extended it. _I can't stay here, Nalia needs me elsewhere._ Cerise then started flying away from the Colosseum, then Ruby shot the heads off a few Griffons that were getting a little too close to her dragon.

The Huntress heard a screech beside her, and Ruby turned to see a Griffon landed right beside her. Just as she was about to slice its head off, another gunshot took off one of the creature's wings. She turned to the source to see Port and Oobleck standing not too far away. "Students," Port started, "I think it would be best for you to leave."

That didn't compute to Ruby. "But we can fi-"

"Miss Rose!" Oobleck interrupted. "This day will surely go down in Remnant's history. I'd prefer it if my students could live to tell about it."

Ruby nodded, taking it as an order to go. She spun her scythe around before slamming the spike into the ground. "Let's go!" She pointed at the nearest tunnel, and all the other students ran past. Except for Velvet, who apparently decided that was a good time to take a picture. Her weapon and Semblance did involve copying others, but what could she have gotten there?

"Velvet!" Coco called. Velvet then ran after her team leader. Ruby soon followed.

As they all ran through the maintenance tunnels, Ruby remembered something, "Pyrrha, I need your help."

Pyrrha stopped and looked back at Ruby. "What do you need?"

Ruby scowled. "There's a problem we need to take care of upstairs." She turned down a side hall and Pyrrha followed. Ruby had no idea how to exactly get to where she wanted, she just ran toward to where she felt the unconscious guy's mind.

Soon enough though, they made it to a familiar hallway. Instead of Mercury lying the middle of the floor, he leaned up against a wall. He was still snoring though. "What's he doing here?" Pyrrha asked, a little anger seeping into her voice.

"Apparently he had a hand in all this." Ruby looked into a side room and saw a wrench and a few pieces of scrap metal laying on the floor. She grabbed them and brought them back to Pyrrha. "Think you can turn these into handcuffs?"

Pyrrha looked at the metal, then at the sleeping criminal. "Probably, but it won't be comfortable for him." The metal floated out of Ruby's hands and over to Mercury.

Ruby knelt down by Mercury and rolled up one of his pant legs. Sure enough, there was metal instead of skin. It looked like her own actually. She repeated the process on the other leg. From just that quick look, she could tell both legs were standard issue Atlas bionics, or some variant anyway. Why he had them, Ruby couldn't guess, but she did know how to disable them.

She looked at where the control panels were on the legs. "Jierda." Ruby heard the distinct sound of metal breaking, as well as the quiet sound of the legs powering down that Pyrrha probably wouldn't notice. If she was right, it would be an easy fix if someone had the right tools, but Mercury wouldn't be hurting anyone else until that happened.

Suddenly gunshots were heard from ahead. Ruby looked toward the source. Sure, there were probably Griffons everywhere, and White Fang if the memory Ruby saw in Mercury's head was to be believed. What she didn't expect was a Beowolf to burst through the doors down the hall. Not taking any time to wonder how the ground-based Grimm got there, Ruby brought her scythe forward and shot the creature through the head.

"It's done," Pyrrha said. Ruby looked to Mercury's hands and saw a rough pair of handcuffs around Mercury's wrists.

"Let's get out of here." Ruby grabbed the handcuff link with her bionic arm and started pulling. Pyrrha and she continued at a slower pace, and not just because of the dead weight. Pyrrha walked slightly ahead, searching for any more Grimm that might have made it in.

Eventually, they made it to the landing bays. Ruby saw her rather large group ahead of them. She dragged Mercury behind her as the other students piled into an airbus. Sun turned around at the top of the ramp at spotted the last two. "There you two are! Now isn't the time to…" His voice trailed off as he saw Mercury. He scowled. "What is _he_ doing here?"

"Don't know how he got here," Ruby grunted as she passed Sun, "but he at least had some part in all this."

Sun blinked as he pressed a button to close the back hatch. "Was this before or after he gave you sister a concussion?"

"I don't know how long he's been involved, but his teammate stole Vert's egg from the Dragonhouse." Ruby practically threw Mercury into an empty seat, then strapped him in. The criminal snored, somehow still asleep, or maybe he was just acting at that point. Ruby turned back toward Sun. "Where we heading anyway?"

"Beacon's getting hit harder than the city, and most students were here when it the attack started." The airbus started moving as Sun was talking.

"Not that a lot of people stayed and fought," Coco shook her head. "All those Huntsmen and Huntresses in training, and they just ran when the shit hit the fan."

"The point is we're doing something." Ruby walked over to a window. The skies were full of Nevermores and Griffons. There were only a few Atlas and Vale fighters, and Nalia flew around near the city skyline. A Nevermore flew toward her airbus, but Cerise got it from above. "Let's just hope we do enough."

* * *

Aaron wasn't sure if he was more ticked off or upset. The White Fang were releasing Grimm into Beacon in an apparent invasion. While he might have been there only a few months, the school had become his home, and the people there his friends and family. He'd already lost both three times. It was not going to happen here.

A Beowolf charged him from the side. Aaron aimed his V4 in its submachinegun from at the creature and pulled the trigger. It fell with multiple bullet holes in its bone mask. Two more came at Aaron from behind, and he swung Redemption using his left hand. One of them lost paws, the other its head. Aaron lost count of how many Grimm he killed at that point. For every one he cut down, at least two rose to take its place.

Luckily for everyone, Aaron hadn't come into direct contact with any White Fang. His V4 couldn't kill unless a person's Aura was completely depleted. Redemption, on the other hand, completely bypassed a person's Aura. Limbs and heads would fly. Then again, it was only a matter of time before that happened.

Aaron faced a pack of Beowolves that was running at him, an Alpha in the lead. He reached for his belt and grabbed the last grenade. The V4 extended to its rifle form, revealing the launcher. Aaron slammed the grenade in and took aim. When the time was right, he pulled the trigger. The grenade flew straight and true, and connected with the Alpha's face. The explosion killed that Grimm, and about five surrounding it.

Not wasting any time, Aaron sprayed Dust rounds into the pack. One pull of the trigger signaled the death for one Grimm as three bullets entered its head. That is until the weapon clicked. Aaron folded the weapon back up and clipped it to his belt. After that, he switched Redemption to his right hand and grabbed his shield with his left.

Against humans, he may have been in trouble being surrounded. Grimm, however, weren't smart in the slightest. All the Beowolves attacked at once, colliding with each other as they tried to get to Aaron. Because of their proximity to each other, none could get enough space for a clawed attack, so they had to rely on their teeth. That left their necks open to attack. Aaron, on the other hand, had no such inhibitions. Every swing of Redemption dismembered at least one Grimm. All attacks that he wasn't able to prevent with his sword he caught on his shield.

With one last sweeping swing, the pack was destroyed. Aaron breathed heavily and looked around for more targets. There weren't any in his immediate area, but he could hear their roars and growls all around. An occasional terrified scream mixed in. That's what kept Aaron going. He wasn't feeling the strain yet, but that was coming.

Aaron ran toward the dorms. Yang was one of the few people still there, and she was in no condition to fight. So Aaron was surprised heard the familiar shotgun blasts. He rounded a corner to see a small crowd of students in front of the main dorm, and Yang was with them, although she was sitting at the base of a wall.

"What are you doing out here?" Aaron asked as soon as he made it over.

"I couldn't let you have all the fun without me," Yang said with a smirk, that quickly turned into a grimace. "Look, I wouldn't be in a much better situation if I was lying in bed. Plus, Zwei was going crazy." A bark came from the side. Up until that point, Aaron didn't notice the dog by Yang's side.

"How's your head?"

"Why do you think I'm sitting down?" Yang rubbed the side of her head. "Just wished someone around here had earplugs."

"As long as you don't strain yourself." Aaron blinked as he thought of a spell that could possibly help in the short term. He knelt down and put his right hand on the side of Yang's head. "Yang, hold still."

Yang narrowed her eyes at Aaron, then looked at the hand jut to the side of her face. "Uh, what are you doing?" Aaron ignored her and started chanting in the Ancient Language. Yang stared at Aaron with narrowed eyes as he cast the spell. As he finished though, Yang blinked and a small smile came to her face. "I thought you said you couldn't do anything about concussions."

"I can't. I just covered up the symptoms. I just took parts from a hangover removal spell. You still have it; you just won't feel any of the effects while the spell's active. Don't get hit in the head too much."

"Anti-hangover? Don't let Uncle Qrow know we can do that." Yang stuck out a hand. Aaron grabbed it and helped the brawler to her feet. "What's everyone else doing?"

"Nalia and Cerise are flying over Beacon and the city providing support where needed. Vert and Halcyon are by the docks trying to keep White Fang and Grimm away, but last I heard they were being pushed back. Too much gunfire."

"Yeah, I noticed that." Yang shuddered and rubbed her side. "Halcyon's hurt, but he's fighting."

"You hear from Weiss and Blake?"

"I think they're on their way. I was cut off by an Ursa when talking to them."

Another roar filled the air. Aaron and Yang turned to it. A Deathstalker somehow made it onto Beacon's campus. Everyone else in the small group tensed up while Aaron looked at Yang. "Prairie?"

Yang nodded. "Don't miss the drop this time." She ran forward with Aaron right behind her. Yang jumped over the Deathstalker's pincers and slammed her fists down onto the creature's head. Her legs stuck straight up in the air. Aaron jumped and landed perfectly on Yang's feet. Yang fired her gauntlets and launched herself and Aaron into the air. Aaron swung Redemption at the stinger and sliced it right off. He spun around in the air to see the stinger land perfectly on the creature's back. Yang fell toward it and punched the stinger clean through the scorpion. As Aaron landed, the Deathstalker started to evaporate.

 _Aaron, Yang,_ Nalia called, _the White Fang is attacking from the south and Grimm have broken through the western wall. Both places need reinforcements._

"Me and Halcyon will handle the White Fang," Yang said while starting to move south. "I'm sure you can handle the Grimm." She started to run, with Zwei at her heels.

Aaron turned and ran west. _Nalia, it would be nice to have some backup here._

 _The sky is clear for now. I'll try and find something to block the breach._

 _Any word on Ruby?_

 _Cerise said she's on an airbus with several other students._ Nalia growled over their mental link. _They have Mercury restrained._

 _Good. Can't have him causing any more trouble._ The first Grimm from the new breach came into view and Aaron readied Redemption. _Here we go again._

* * *

Cerise dove at the black-bird-monster that threatened her partner-of-her-heart-and-mind. The black-bird-monster screeched as the bones in its back shattered. The dragon silenced it forever when she bit down on the creature's neck. Cerise straightened her wings and looked for a new target. The sky was filled with evil-beast-Grimm, plenty of opponents.

She wasn't focused only on the sky though. On the ground, the two-legs fought the evil-beast-Grimm and defended their nests. There were times when giant-black-stingers and two-head-snakes made it into the city. Cerise helped kill many of those already, but they kept coming.

A panicked scream found its way to Cerise' ears. She looked toward the ground and saw a four-wheel-metal-carriage on its side, with evil-beast-Grimm approaching from two sides.

Cerise dove toward the ground and crushed a large-spike-bear beneath her. The rest of the pack turned their attention to the dragon. She growled at her opponents waiting for one of them to make the first move. A short-leg-Creep lunged at the dragon first, and was quickly met with the claws on Cerise right paw.

The rest of the evil-beast-Grimm charged at once. With one swing of her tail, Cerise was able to kill most of her prey. The larger ones were dealt with by powerful claws and teeth. A large-spike-bear managed to land a strike on her left wing, but her see-through-Aura-shield took the damage. Cerise finished it off by clawing its head off its body.

Cerise turned back to the four-wheel-metal-carriage. She could hear crying inside. Hesitantly, she hooked her claws around the top of the four-wheel-box and gently righted it. There were two two-legs inside, a mother and a youngling. Surprisingly, the youngling was two-leg-dog-ear-Violet, the first one Ruby and Cerise helped save from the black-bird-monster-slave-organization.

Inside, Violet looked at Cerise with scared eyes. The dragon just hummed comfortingly. _It's me, little one,_ she said. _I'm sure Ruby would want me to tell you she says hi._

Violet looked like she calmed down and tried to open a door, but it wouldn't open. Her mother tried the same thing and got the same result. Cerise put a single claw on top of the four-wheel-box then looked at those inside. _Get back._ When those inside did as ordered, Cerise drove her claw through the metal. She pulled and the door came right off. The two-leg-dog-ears inside climbed out and onto the ground. _Where are you heading?_

The mother pointed down the road. "Our apartment is two blocks that way. We got cut off." Cerise looked down the road at the nest-stacks on either side. On the road, Atlas-metal-men marched toward the dragon.

Cerise looked at the two beside her. _I can get you two across this road, but I am needed elsewhere._ She started walking, with a protective wing behind and over the two-leg-dog-ears.

About halfway to the Atlas-metal-men, the metal-men fell over. Cerise slowed down slightly as she waited to see what would happen next. The metal-men straightened out, their faces glowing. They raised their Dust-bows and aimed them at Cerise and the two-leg-dog-ears.

Cerise put herself between the Atlas-metal-men and her charges. The metal-men fired not a second later. Cerise' see-through-Aura-shield drained her energy quickly as it absorbed the small-but-strong-arrows. She growled as she weighed her options. If she moved, the two-leg-dog-ears would die. If she didn't, they all would die.

Something built up in Cerise chest that was begging for release. It felt similar to what Ruby called 'throwing up,' but completely different at the same time. She had an idea of what it was, but she still shouldn't have been able to do it for three more months.

The dragon reared her head back then launched it forward with a roar. For the first time, an inferno accompanied the sound. It wasn't nearly as big or hot as Nalia's, but Cerise hoped it was enough.

Cerise closed her mouth and the flames died away. Some of the Atlas-metal-men still stood, some lay on the ground. None of them moved. Cerise grunted, then looked back at the two-leg-dog-ears. _Actually, it looks like I'll take you all the way back to your nest._

The dragon continued down the road and contacted the other dragons and their Riders. _Beware, I've just been attacked by Atlas-metal-men._

 _Same here,_ Yang said. _What the heck is going on here?_

 _I could search Mercury's mind more if needed,_ Ruby offered. _He might…oh no…_

Cerise turned her head to where her partner-of-her-heart-and-mind was. She focused solely on Ruby. _Gem?_

 _Cerise! I need a lift now!_

The dragon turned to the two she was escorting. _Sorry, but I need to fly._ She ran forward and leapt into the air. Cerise quickly turned to where Ruby was. She flew as fast as she could toward her Rider.

Ruby stood on the back of a flying-finned-box and looked at Cerise. _Catch me!_ Then she jumped. Cerise dove to catch her soulmate. They've done this before, but from higher off the break-bone-ground and they started together. Still, Cerise knew Ruby wouldn't have jumped if she didn't know her dragon would catch her. Cerise wouldn't disappoint.

Cerise aligned herself with her Rider and slowly eased into her. As soon as Ruby was fully in the saddle, the dragon flared her wings and turned upward. _Where to?_

 _Atlas' last ship._ Ruby pointed at the last flying-metal-ship. _General Ironwood was flying there when he was shot down._

 _Are you sure this is the best idea?_ Cerise turned to the flying-metal-ship and watched for any weapons aimed at her. _We've seen what these things can do._

 _And what they can't. This type of frigate's point-defense sucks when the target is above it. Just stay above the bow and we'll be fine._

 _If you say so._ Cerise flew above the flying-metal-ship, and only a few small-Dust-arrows flew in her direction. None actually came close to hitting her. She landed on the front edge of the ship and knelt down. Ruby slid off her back and drew her scythe. _I wish I could help, but…_

Cerise' sensitive ears heard something in the far distance, crumbling and breaking rock. She looked toward it, but didn't see what caused it.

Then the top of a mountain exploded. A black dragon rose out. Cerise growled and tensed up. _Nalia, we may have a problem._

* * *

 **Kevin! Oh, and Cerise breathed fire for the first time. Take a guess how that happened. My gosh, dragon POVs are still hard to write…**

 **So if been wondering how big Nalia is, there you go. If anything, I might be underselling a five year old dragon. I don't have much to go by with size comparisons.**


	44. Don't Hurt My Family

**So, this one time at band camp…I uploaded this chapter. I am back at college, and I LOVE the place I'm staying. It's essentially a studio apartment, but it's on campus. Fingers crossed it helps my writing and school work. Also, there's practically no one around. Ah, the joys of moving in a week early.**

 **Also, since I'm starting my third year of college, I can't guarantee I'll be able to keep up with the every Tuesday upload schedule forever. However, I only have to write a chapter and a half of Act I and I have the first six for Act II ready to go.**

 **Another thing, at this point I'm really thinking about splitting Act II into its own story. The feel will be completely different from this, and there's a decent time skip. If this was an actual book, Act II would definitely be a sequel.**

 **Enough rambling. To battle!**

* * *

Aaron batted a White Fang soldier with his shield, knocking his opponent unconscious. The Rider knelt down next to the Faunus and grabbed his ammo. Luckily, a fair amount of White Fang still carried V4s, otherwise Aaron would have had to abandon his weapon long ago.

The ground shook beneath Aaron, accompanied with a metallic clanking. He turned his head to the noise and saw a Paladin running at him. This was the first of its kind that attacked the Rider that night. He helped take down several of them before right before the Breach, this one shouldn't be a problem.

The Rider drew Redemption and ran at the machine. He jumped over a punch and ran up its arm. Once he reached the top, he plunged his sword into the space between the arm and the rest of the body. Unlike last time though, the sword didn't plunge into the space. It bounced off and threw Aaron unbalance. The Paladin reached back and grabbed Aaron. It threw the Rider into and through the wall of a nearby building. His shield and sword skidded to off to his right.

As Aaron got up, he realized he was thrown into the armory. A double barreled rocket launcher sat on a bench next to him. The Paladin punched its way into the building, and Aaron grabbed the weapon. "Please be loaded," he whispered to himself, right before he pulled the trigger.

Not expecting the force, Aaron fell backward as two rockets flew toward its target. There was a fairly large explosion and part of the roof fell in. Aaron looked back to where the Paladin once stood, and saw a smoking wreck with wires and metal sticking out of it at all angles.

"And that is why I keep some weapons around here loaded." Aaron looked to the source of the voice and saw quartermaster Ash standing in front of the register carrying a large shotgun. "Take whatever you need. They're not taking Beacon without a fight." He pointed his shotgun straight up and pulled the trigger. Seconds later, a Griffon fell through the roof.

"I'll keep that in mind if I need more ammo." Aaron stood up and reloaded his V4. After he retrieved his sword and shield, he looked at one of the attachments on his ranged weapon. "You got any grenades that work with this?"

Ash pointed at another section of the store. "Over there." Aaron ran to the specified area and grabbed as many grenades as he could fit on his belt. He heard another blast from a shotgun. The Rider turned back to the downed Paladin and saw the corpses of three Beowolves and an Alpha on top of the wreck. "You might want to use the front door."

Aaron loaded a grenade into his launcher. "Will do." He walked over to the door and switched his V4 back into its submachine gun form. He kicked open the front door and started shooting. At the moment, the armory was surrounded by Grimm. The largest thing in the area was an Ursa Major, which Aaron quickly charged and jumped on its back. As the Grimm tried to throw him off, Aaron aimed his V4 at the base of its skull and held down the trigger. The large Ursa fell, never to rise again.

The biggest threat defeated, Aaron looked to the rest of the Grimm. He collapsed his V4 and drew Redemption. The Grimm horde charged all at once. Aaron suddenly wished he still had quick access to his grenade launcher. He braced himself for the brutal combat.

A Beowolf reached him first, and its head quickly left its body. After that, Aaron didn't know what attacked him. He just acted. Redemption swung at all angles and even his shield cut a few Creeps. There were so many though, more than what he faced during the Breach. He couldn't defend himself from all sides. There was a constant drain on his Aura and wards.

Just as he was starting to worry for his life, the last Ursa fell. Aaron stood panting for a second, then he heard more mechanical clanking. He turned and saw several Atlas androids marching toward him with weapons drawn. "Oh come on!" Aaron yelled as he drew his V4. "Can't a guy get a break?" He switched his weapon to its rifle form and fired as he tried to find cover.

Aaron found a solid looking tree and hid behind that. Every few seconds he stepped out from behind cover and shot the head off one of one of the androids. They weren't as numerous as the Grimm, but they were substantially more deadly. The tree he hid behind splintered rapidly, and he had to run to a concrete bench nearby.

As Aaron reloaded his V4 for the third time against the androids, a grenade rolled under the bench. He didn't have time to say anything before it exploded. He was thrown back again, and collided with one of the main buildings on campus. His head hurt like hell and his weapons were nowhere near him.

The Rider looked up at the approaching androids. He activated his Semblance in a last ditch effort to hold back the expected onslaught of bullets. A green shield appeared in front of him that would hopfuly block all angles Before they could fire though, something attacked from behind. Heads popped off and chests exploded. At first Aaron couldn't hear what was causing the chaos, but as his head cleared, he heard the distinct sound of Ember Celica.

Yang burst through the line of androids and drew their fire. She moved from side to side, raking them down. In seconds, there was only scrap left in the android's place. Yang turned around and ran toward Aaron. "I thought I was the one with the concussion," she quipped as she stuck a hand out to Aaron.

"You might not be the only one with that condition now." Aaron grabbed the outstretched hand and Yang pulled him to his feet. "That last hit was bad."

"You're standing up straight. You're fine." Yang handed Aaron his V4. "Halcyon took down some White Fang Bullheads south of here. He's holding off the remnants. Apparently Vert's struggling in the central courtyard against some Paladins. A bunch of students are there too, but these things are a bit tougher than the one the White Fang had before."

"I got my grenades. Hopefully they do something." Aaron grabbed Redemption off the ground and ran with Yang to the central courtyard. They got there just in time to see Yatsuhashi get sent flying by a Paladin. The big guy crashed into Vert's side. Aaron aimed his grenade launcher at the machine and pulled the trigger. The grenade flew forward and impacted its 'face.' Other than stumbling back, the Paladin showed no damage.

"Uhh, this is bad," Neptune yelled over all the noise.

Coco lowered her weapon. "Well, I guess now's a better time than any." She turned toward one of her teammates. "Velvet!"

Velvet's ears perked up. "Really?"

Coco nodded. "Just make them count."

Aaron smirked. "You ever seen this Yang?"

"Not in person." Yang shook her head.

"Then you can watch, and I'll keep these Grimm off our backs. Aaron turned around and shot an approaching Beowolf. He heard all kinds of sounds behind him, from Ember Celica firing to Coco's minigun. In front of him, Beowolves and Creeps filtered in, but nowhere near enough to overwhelm the number of Huntsmen in the area.

Then a roar filled the air. "Velvet!" Coco called. Aaron turned around to see Velvet sprawled out on the ground. Coco fired her minigun at a Paladin, but it didn't do any damage. Vert charged the machine, claws forward.

Just before the dragon made contact, the Paladin swung a fist at Vert's side. It made contact and crumpled one of his wings, before sending him sliding toward Velvet.

Aaron quickly loaded another grenade into his launcher and fired. That one Paladin was taking fire from all sides, and shrugging it all off. If Aaron knew the weak spots on this the machine, he could use magic to break whatever was needed. Doing it now without the help of Nalia could kill him.

The Paladin stalked toward Velvet and Vert, ignoring all of the Dust rounds hitting it. Just as it raised a fist back, Weiss ran in front of the machine, with an unfamiliar glyph behind her. As Aaron watched, a large sword and arm appeared from the glyph. The giant sword stopped the Paladin's fist, right before slicing the machine in half.

The path now clear, Aaron and Yang sprinted to Vert's side. Aaron slid to a stop right by Vert's wing. Even just by looking at it, he could tell it wasn't good. "This brings back unpleasant memories," Yang mumbled.

"How bad is it?" Velvet asked quickly.

Aaron grimaced. "Bad." The ground started to shake again and a different mechanical sound rolled over the courtyard. Aaron looked toward the landing pads and saw a different machine, much larger than a Paladin, skid to a stop.

"You have got to be kidding me," Sun yelled.

"Would today stop throwing surprises at me already?" Aaron loaded yet another grenade into his launcher, ready for another long fight.

* * *

Ruby swung Crescent Rose at Neo repeatedly. No matter how fast she was though, Neo always evaded. Switching tactics, Ruby dug her scythe into the top of the ship. She fired a few shots, and one of them actually hit. Neo shattered like glass, and Roman Torchwick stood in her place. He fired a shot from his cane, and Ruby couldn't dodge. She flew backward toward the bow of the ship. She dug Crescent rose into the hull again, but this time to keep herself from falling off. Ruby stretched her mind out to find any dragon in the area. _I could use some help up here!_

 _Cerise is tied up right now,_ Halcyon called. _I'm on my way to you._

Torchwick and Neo approached Ruby. "Ya know, little Red," he started, "a lot of the White Fang wondered if you were actually one of the sympathizers going around. They didn't have anything against you after you took on the Nevermores. Then they remembered you're partners with a Schnee, so now you're back with the rest of them."

"What are you doing?" Ruby yelled over the wind. "Without these ships, the Grimm will destroy everything!"

"That's the plan!" Torchwick pointed the business end of his cane at Ruby's head. The Rider barely managed to divert its aim before it fired. She stood up and faced Neo. Before she could even get a swing in though, Neo jumped over her and hit her from behind. She then received a kick to the face and then the side of the head. Ruby barely stopped herself from falling off the edge of the ship.

"But why?" Ruby yelled as she turned back to her opponents. "What do you get out of it?"

"You're asking the wrong questions Red," Torchwick drawled. "It's not what I have to gain, it's that I can't afford to lose!" Ruby charged Torchwick. Neo jumped over the criminal's back and blocked the strike. Ruby swung again and Neo wrapped the hook of her umbrella around the barrel of Crescent Rose. The weapon was tugged out of Ruby's hands and she was thrown off balance. She was kicked right in the back, then Torchwick's cane hit her in the face. Soon after, she was hit by a shot from that same cane.

Ruby barely managed to grab Crescent Rose before flying off the ship. As it was, she hung off the side, hundreds of feet off the ground. _Halcyon, how close are you?_

 _Very._ Ruby looked down through the flock of Griffons and saw Halcyon flying almost straight up toward her.

Footsteps above Ruby demanded her attention. "I may be a gambling man, but even I know there's some bets you just don't take." Torchwick and Neo came into view. Neo pointed the end of her umbrella at Ruby like a sword. At the same time, Ruby noticed how perfectly her head lined up with the barrel of Crescent Rose.

 _Halcyon, you know what I'm thinking?_

 _I'm ready when you are._

"Like it or not," Torchwick continued, "the people who hired me are going to change the world. You can't stop 'em. I can't stop 'em! You know the old saying. If you can't beat 'em-"

Ruby fired Crescent Rose. Any effect it had on Neo was lost to Ruby as the recoil forced the weapon out of the ship. Ruby tumbled head over heels and she folded up her weapon. Not a second later, she fell into one of Halcyon's open paws.

Halcyon flew back over the ship and dropped Ruby right behind her opponents. She drew Crescent Rose and held it out in front of her. Halcyon landed right beside her and growled at the other two. "And you thought taking me on was a safer bet? I've _done_ the impossible. I'll _continue_ to do the impossible." The top of the ship brightened slightly and the wind picked up significantly. Torchwick's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. "We _will_ stop them, and I _will_ stop you! Bet on that!"

Ruby pointed Crescent Rose behind her and fired. She flew at high speed toward Torchwick. The Huntress swung her weapon at her opponent, who was barely able to block it. Ruby pulled back and launched several more strikes. She barely noticed Halcyon tackle Neo off the ship.

Torchwick pushed himself away slightly. "This shouldn't be possible! Cinder said-"

"Didn't you hear me before? I _am_ the impossible!" Ruby dug the tip of her scythe into the hull and fired several shots. Torchwick dodged some, but others hit home. Halcyon flew back over the ship and Torchwick aimed his cane up at the dragon. Without Aura, one shot in the right area could potentially kill Halcyon. Ruby activated her Semblance and charged Torchwick. She hit him clear across the top of the ship. "Don't you _dare_ hurt my family."

Torchwick slowly struggled to his feet, "Why you insufferable-" anything he was about to say was cut off when a Griffon swooped down and swallowed him whole. The Grimm then roared at Ruby, right before Halcyon pounced on it and skewered it with his claws.

The top of the ship darkened slightly and the wind died down. Ruby felt more exhausted than she should have been. Halcyon looked back at Ruby and cocked his head. _What did you just do?_

"What do you mean?" Ruby panted. "I fought like I always do. You just scared them." She looked at the top of the ship. "Can't say I feel sorry for Torchwick. What did you do to Neo, anyway?"

 _She's,_ Halcyon paused, _down for the count. Now what do we do about this thing?_

Ruby turned to look at the bridge. She stretched her mind out into the ship. "There's still people alive here. We can't wreck it. Their androids are going crazy, so we can't do nothing. Ugh, I wish Weiss was here. She'd at least know what to look for." Ruby ran toward the bridge superstructure and tried to find a hatch or something to get inside. Luckily, Torchwick or Neo left a hatch wide open.

The Huntress stepped inside and instantly realized how quiet it was. Sure, alarms were blaring, but that was it. There was no sign of any people, that is, until Ruby passed by what looked like the barracks. Several soldiers were piled on top of each other. They were alive, at least Ruby thought they all were. A large pool of blood formed on the floor.

Ruby eventually found her way onto the bridge, finding even more unconscious people. All the consoles in the bridge glowed red, with some of the screens showing a black queen chess piece on a red background. The Huntress looked around the bridge for anything that could possibly cause it, but she wasn't an expert on computers in general, let alone hacking.

Eventually Ruby found a console with images of Atlesian Knights and Paladins on it. She got an idea, a stupid one, but an idea nonetheless. She pointed the business end of her weapon that she hoped wasn't the helm. "Please don't fall out of the sky." She fired one shot and the console exploded in a shower of sparks. After the sparking calmed down, Ruby didn't feel any major movement on the ship, so it probably wasn't about to fall out of the sky. "Ironwood's going to kill me…"

Hoping that one shot did something productive, Ruby turned around and ran back the way she came. _Halcyon, I'm ready for pickup near the rear of the ship._

 _Good, we're needed elsewhere, and all this flying is starting to hurt my wings._ Ruby ran through the hatch she entered through and jumped onto the golden dragon's back. Halcyon dove toward the ground at high speed.

As the fell, Ruby's mind started to wander. The past hour was just too much. Her heart rate started to rise again as she remembered the memory in the Colosseum and the Nevermore's torture…

Ruby whirled Crescent Rose around and blew a wing off of a Griffon. _Don't think, fight. Don't think, fight._

* * *

Yang prepared to fight the Super Paladin, or whatever the heck that monster of a machine was called. Two regular Paladins were bad enough, this thing looked like it ate Paladins for breakfast. Everyone in that section of the courtyard aimed their weapons at the last mech.

Surprisingly, Velvet stepped in front of everyone. She glared at the mech with an intensity Yang had never seen in the Faunus before. Then again, her dragon did practically lose a wing. "I've got one more left for this thing," she growled.

Blue light started to appear all around Velvet. Unlike all the other weapons though, the light formed away from her body. Eventually, two wings formed and spread out. The rough shape of a torso surrounded Velvet, and four legs sprouted out of the bottom. Lastly, a head and neck formed at the same time a tail stuck out the back. Judging by the size, Velvet just made a wireframe version of Nalia.

Velvet and her copy roared as the Super Paladin approached. She took two giant leaps forward and collided with the mech. Instead of the Super Paladin forcing Velvet back like Yang expected, the blue copy knocked the mech over. Velvet dug 'her' claws into the center of the machine. Judging by Velvet's motions on the inside of the copy, she was trying to pull the Super Paladin apart. Just as the copy was disappearing, the front claws moved away from each other, tearing large chunks of machinery with them. The copied dragon disappeared, and the mech stayed still.

"Whoa," Yang breathed. "She's good." Up by the mech, Velvet wobbled unsteadily on her feet. Fox sprinted forward and caught his teammate before she hit the ground. They slowly walked back toward Vert.

The current threat eliminated, Yang looked around the gathered students for her team. Aaron knelt by Vert's new injury and Weiss leaned on Myrtenaster not too far away. Yang looked to the sky. _Halcyon, Ruby still with you?_

 _She is,_ Halcyon replied quickly, _but I'm worried for her. Whenever she isn't fighting, her mind goes to less pleasant places._

Yang's throat constricted. "Stay strong, Ruby," she whispered to herself. She looked around for the last member of her team, but Blake was nowhere in sight. Yang stretched her mind out to find her partner. The blonde Rider wasn't sure if she should be glad she did. Blake was almost as terrified as Ruby was in Mountain Glenn.

Yang ran toward her partner as fast as she could, ignoring Weiss' calls. Just outside the courtyard a pack of Ursai blocked her path. Not having time to deal with them, she aimed Ember Celica at the ground and fired. She flew over the Grimm and only shot them to keep her airborne. Yang landed on the other side of the pack and kept running.

As she ran, Yang ran into less Grimm and more White Fang. Those she did engage, if only to prevent them from shooting her from behind. None of the White Fang soldiers lasted longer than a few seconds.

That is, until Yang ran into one of them with a chainsaw sword. He was much larger than any other Faunus in the White Fang, but size meant nothing. Only skill mattered, and Weiss said someone matching this guy's description was no pushover.

The chainsaw wielder looked at Yang and raised his weapon. "I'm not typically a bounty hunter," he growled, "but I'll make an exception for you."

Yang dropped into a fighting stance. "Bring it, jumbo."

The giant of a man revved his chainsaw, then took a few steps forward. Before he could get close though, a shotgun blast hit him in the face. Yang turned back to see where that shot came from, and saw one of her childhood friends pointing her shotgun/katana at jumbo. She wore a standard White Fang uniform, minus the mask. "Leave this to me Yang," Rosie said.

"And leave you to take this guy on alone?"

Rosie smirked. "Who said I'm alone?" As if on cue, a rocket flew out from on top of a nearby building and hit jumbo in the chest. Yang remembered seeing a trail like that from one of Rosie's teammate's weapon in the tournament. "My team's got this. Go!" Yang nodded and continued toward Blake. She'd have time to question Rosie later.

Yang tracked Blake to the cafeteria. It was surrounded by White Fang grunts, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. All her opponents fell almost as easily as Grimm. Either Yang was just that good, or she was just facing a bunch of idealists who only recently learned how to use their weapons. She wanted to think the first, but knew it probably wasn't true.

Then she heard a sound she hoped to prevent; Blake screaming. Yang quickly turned to the sound. A red haired guy held a sword that stuck out of the side of Blake's stomach. He pulled it out and faced Yang. "Get away from her!" Yang yelled.

The blonde spared a glance at her partner and gently entered Blake's mind. _Yang! Go away!_ Blake mentally screamed. _You can't beat him!_ Yang's eyes then rested on Gambol Shroud. That might be her only chance.

Ignoring her previous successes of not letting her anger show, Yang let it all erupt to the surface. She screamed and fire burst to life all around her. Yang fired Ember Celica behind her and reeled a fist back to strike. It was a feint though, and she fired her gauntlets again, sending her under a vicious slash. Yang rolled on the ground a few times and managed to grab both halves of Gambol Shroud. Suddenly she wished she took her sword training with Ruby and Aaron a little more seriously.

Yang yelled and charged at her opponent. She swung both blade and sheath at the guy, but predictably he blocked both. Just as she was pushed back though, she realized that at least one of her gauntlets was pointed at her opponent's upper chest, maybe even head.

Unfortunately, Yang didn't have time to try out her new plan. The redhead slashed at her several times in quick succession. Yang could barely block, and every time she did, sparks rose from the blades. There was more vibration than there should have been, and that messed with her grip on her borrowed weapons.

Seeing she wouldn't get an advantage the normal way, Yang fired her gauntlets the next time their blades touched. Both shots hit the guy and he actually stumbled back. Seeing her advantage, Yang swung sword and sheath in conjunction with her shots. For the first time in the fight, she was on the offensive. She managed to push the red haired creep away from Blake.

"Enough of this!" the guy shouted right before he caught Yang's left arm. He threw the limb to the side, causing Yang to spin around. When she had her back turned, something hit her in the back of the head. Hard. Right where Mercury hit her a day ago.

Whatever Aaron did to suppress Yang's concussion symptoms failed. She fell to the ground and dropped her borrowed weapon. A slight ringing filled her ears and her vision narrowed. The red haze surrounding her vision disappeared. _Don't black out. Don't black out…_ she thought to herself.

 _Yang! I'm coming!_ Halcyon mentally yelled.

Yang tried to push herself up, and she looked up at the guy. "Not so tough without your dragon to bail you out," he said menacingly. Blake suddenly put herself between the two opponents. The guy frowned. "Why most you hurt me Blake?" He swung his sword back to strike.

Even though Yang couldn't exactly see straight, she tried to focus on the red sword. "Jierda." With a substantial drain on her energy, the sword snapped into three pieces. The spell didn't stop there though. The guy's right arm bent in several locations where bone shouldn't allow that kind of angle. He screamed and fell to his knees.

Still in her weakened state, Yang stood up and walked past Blake. She stood over the masked swordsman. "Don't mess with my family." Yang threw a quick punch at the guy's face. His mask shattered and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Yang stood on shaky legs, her vision fading in and out. The room started to spin around, and it took Yang a second to realize she was falling backward. Before she could hit the ground though, something stopped her fall. She turned her head slightly and saw Blake's concerned face. "You okay?" Yang asked weakly. She eyes fell to the dark red spot on Blake's shirt.

"It's not as bad as it looks," Blake said with a wince. "I've seen him do this before. It's an interrogation technique. It didn't hit anything vital. It still hurts though."

"I can fix that." Yang slowly stuck a hand out toward her partner's injury but it was gently batted away.

"You've done enough for now. We need to get you out of here." Blake hooked an arm through Yang's and hauled her partner to her feet. They walked forward a few steps with Yang stumbling on each one. She looked ahead and stopped walking. There was another White Fang soldier standing in their path out of the cafeteria.

"You beat him?" the soldier called in an awfully familiar voice.

"Not me," Blake responded. "Her." There was a light pat on one of Yang's shoulders. The blonde looked at her partner with narrowed eyes. Blake left the White Fang ages ago, why was she talking with one of them like they were friends?

The soldier ran forward, quickly followed by three others Yang couldn't identify because of her blurry vision. As they got closer though, Yang could pick out their faces. "Rosie…you're one of them?"

"Not anymore." Rosie threw Yang's other arm over her shoulders. "I just couldn't get out before this happened."

"Sorry about trapping you in there," Blake apologized.

"Don't worry about it. You found a way out and you took it." Rosie paused and Yang thought she looked back. "What did you do to Adam anyway?"

"I broke him," Yang said, trying to keep her words straight. "That's enough."

 _Yang, I'm here,_ Halcyon said right before he touched down right outside the cafeteria. He settled down onto his belly and stretched out his limbs so his back got even lower. _Get her over here._

Blake and Rosie half carried Yang to Halcyon's side. The blonde tried to climb onto her dragon's back by herself, but Halcyon had to help her up with his snout. Eventually Yang made it up and looked back down at Blake. "You might want to get your side checked out." She then leaned forward in her saddle and started to give into her exhaustion. Before she passed out though, she saw the massive Grimm dragon fly overhead, quickly followed by Nalia and Cerise. _Take that thing down,_ she thought to herself. With no energy left and the concussion taking its toll, Yang blacked out.

* * *

 **Take that Adam! Revenge is mine!.. or at least Yang's. For those of you who may be thinking that Ruby accessing her new powers is a chapter too early, it's been leaking out since chapter sixteen, albeit in a part that I will most likely never upload and only mentioned in later chapters.**


	45. Death of Innocence

**Well here we are, at the end of Volume 3 and a lot of things still to take care of. Long chapter ahead.**

* * *

Nalia snarled at the black dragon. It had to be as big as master Glaedr. Unlike all other dragons though, this one was an evil-beast-Grimm. Nalia was out massed, but she was used to it. She never was the largest dragon, but she was the fastest dragon alive, and she used her speed almost flawlessly so far to harm her opponent.

The evil-Grimm-dragon had yet to land a hit on Nalia and Cerise. Both flew too fast for the large-evil-beast to land a solid hit on. The evil-beast-Grimm it birthed though irritated the dragons. While Cerise' see-through-Aura-shield protected her from any damage, Nalia had no such protection. She could handle the single black-bird-monsters and black-winged-horses, but there were so many of them. Those creatures were able to bloody the green dragon, but not to the point of crippling her.

The evil-Grimm-dragon flew toward long-tailed-Cerise. The red dragon roared and rose to meet her opponent. Cerise flew above the evil-beast-Grimm and swatted at its back. Unfortunately, the strike looked like it glanced off a bone plate. The evil-Grimm-dragon tried to bite at Cerise, but the smaller dragon evaded just in time.

Nalia flew to Cerise' side. The smaller dragon growled. _I go left, you go right?_

 _Aim for its wings._ Nalia dove and roared again. The evil-Grimm-dragon turned to the two other dragons and barred its teeth. Nalia flew straight at it, and veered right at the last second. She swung both sets of front claws at the large-evil-beast's wing. Several large tears opened in the membrane. Judging by the evil-Grimm-dragon's roar of pain, long-tailed-Cerise had accomplished the same.

Instead of losing height though, the evil-Grimm-dragon flew higher, just like every time before. _This isn't good._ Nalia tracked the beast as it soared down into the city. The evil-Grimm-dragon dove down toward the ground instead of facing its opponents. It landed on a nest-stack and tore its talons into the fake-stone. Two-legs screamed as they ran about. The large-evil-beast roared at Nalia and Cerise, challenging them to come near.

 _We have to get it away from the city._ Nalia tried to pry the evil-Grimm-dragon off the nest-stack, but to no avail. _Too many people are in danger._

 _I may have something._ Cerise dove at the evil-Grimm-dragon and opened her mouth. Fire burst forth as Cerise flew by. The large-evil-beast roared in frustration and flew after Cerise.

 _You can use your fire?_ Nalia asked as she flew after the evil-Grimm-dragon.

 _I don't know how either, but I'm okay with it._ Cerise flew over the fake-stone-and-glass-city and toward the large-green-forest. She flew slightly faster than the evil-Grimm-dragon to stay out of its reach. It put on a burst of speed and tried to bite of long-tailed-Cerise' tail. Nalia saw this and dug her claws into the large-evil-beast's back. She pulled and tore off as much black flesh as she could.

The large-evil-beast roared in pain and tried to throw Nalia off its back. Eventually, it succeeded, and Nalia was thrown under the beast. The evil-Grimm-dragon lashed out with one of its feet and collided with Nalia's back.

Nalia fell to the break-bone-ground at too-fast-speed. She crashed down and felt several bones shatter. Pain coursed through her body, and she tried to keep it from leaking to her partner-of-her-heart-and-mind. Unfortunately, she wasn't quick enough. _Nalia! What happened?_

 _This Grimm is a challenge._ Nalia gritted her teeth as she rose to her feet. _But there's two of us, and we're faster. If we don't kill this thing, it will surely kill many people._

 _I can send Halcyon your way if needed. We can hold the fort here without him._

 _If we need him, I'll tell you. Keep him at Beacon for now._ Nalia looked toward the sky to see Cerise circle-flying around the evil-Grimm-dragon. She tried to raise her wings, but was unable. There were definitely some broken bones in her wings. _Cerise, I'm grounded. Return the favor._

 _Gladly,_ Cerise growled. Nalia could only watch from the ground as the red dragon did her best to bring the evil-Grimm-dragon to the ground. While Cerise was faster than the large-evil-beast, she had to fly around it to get a good angle of attack. During that time, the evil-Grimm-dragon could protect whatever area Cerise got an angle on.

Cerise eventually cut across the evil-Grimm-dragon's back and sunk her claws into the large-evil-beast's wing. Four large tears formed in the membrane, and Cerise even tore the tip of the evil-Grimm-dragon's wing clean off.

Its flight abilities crippled, the evil-Grimm-dragon spiraled toward the ground. It hit the break-bone-ground and a dust cloud rose from the impact zone. Nalia stalked toward the site, growling all the way. Even though it hit the break-bone-ground harder than Nalia, there was no way it could be dead.

Sure enough, the evil-Grimm-dragon rose from the ground and growled at the two dragons. Cerise flew just over Nalia, and both dragons growled back. With their opponent grounded, victory was that much easier, especially since the large-evil-beast didn't have any front legs to attack.

Even though fire wouldn't do much to the evil-Grimm-dragon, some evil-beast-Grimm before had at least shown a fear of Nalia's inferno. _Cerise, burn an arena._ The red dragon complied, and burned a large circle around the two larger dragons. It would at least keep other evil-beast-Grimm away. _Now stay back and let me handle this._

 _Are you sure? You're injured, and that thing's much larger than you._

 _Have you learned nothing? Size doesn't mean anything in a fight unless you know how to use it._ Nalia took a step forward and ignored the pain that the limb caused. _If I fall, you will be able to kill it._

Black blood dripped off the evil-Grimm-dragon's neck. It splashed harmlessly on the ground. Instead of staying blood though, each drop formed into evil-beast-Grimm. Each one stood in front of the large-evil-beast as if defending it. Nalia snarled. _If you want to help right now, keep the rest of the Grimm off us._

Nalia roared and charged. She closed the distance in seconds, running through the defending evil-beast-Grimm, and body slammed the evil-Grimm-dragon's neck. The blow knocked the large-evil-beast back slightly, but it stood its ground. It snapped at Nalia's neck with its oversized jaws, but even on the ground, Nalia was still too fast.

Then one of the evil-Grimm-dragon's legs snapped out and connected with Nalia's side. Luckily her wing wasn't in the kicks path, or every bone in it would have shattered. As it was, Nalia was thrown to the side and almost rolled into the ring of fire. She felt even more bones break and for a few seconds she couldn't breathe.

Nalia slowly stood up and faced her opponent. The evil-Grimm-dragon growled at the green dragon, and several small-evil-beasts approached. She knew now she couldn't beat the evil-Grimm-dragon on her own. Just as she was about to call Cerise for support though, she felt something build up inside her. A new power, not unlike what Aaron felt right before he unlocked his energy-and-shield-Aura. Just like her partner-of-her-heart-and-mind, Nalia dug deep into herself and grasped it.

Instantly, Nalia felt a wave of energy course through her. A green glow appeared around her snout. She snarled confidently and glared at her opponent. Maybe she wouldn't need long-tailed-Cerise' help after all.

Nalia lunged at the evil-Grimm-dragon. While it prepared for a head on attack, Nalia veered left and clamped her jaws around the large-evil-beast's right wing. She snapped her head to the side, and with some help from her claws, she tore the wing right out of its socket.

The evil-Grimm-dragon roared in pain. It quickly snapped its jaws at Nalia, but not fast enough to catch a Quickwing. Even on her injured legs, Nalia ran circles around the large-evil-beast using her new energy. She ignored the small-evil-beasts, leaving them for Cerise to kill.

Nalia jumped at the largest of the large-evil-beast's right eyes and clawed at the largest of the three. The attack landed, and it tore away most of the unnatural-evil-red-eye. Now missing a primary eye, the evil-Grimm-dragon flailed around, using its tail as a club. A few strikes almost hit Nalia as she prepared for her final attack. However, the tail did manage to kill most other small-evil-beasts.

In a flash, Nalia pounced on the evil-Grimm-dragon's neck and bit down. She dug her claws into its flesh and started to pull it apart. The large-evil-beast tried to through Nalia off, but the dragon wasn't letting go. When she felt like she made a large enough hole, Nalia reeled her head back slightly and released an inferno into the wound.

Once again, the evil-Grimm-dragon roared in pain. A few seconds into the blaze, Nalia noticed her flame burning out of the destroyed eye. The large-evil-beast flailed around and tried using its legs to scratch Nalia off. The dragon took all the hits, her new see-through-Aura-shield taking most of the damage.

After an unbearably long time, evil-Grimm-dragon's resistance lost strength as Nalia kept her blaze strong as well as her digging. Something gave way in the large-evil-beast's neck and Nalia nearly pulled its head clean off.

Nalia closed her mouth and stepped away from her nearly-headless-kill. She raised her head and roared into the sky, releasing as much flame as she could. That was a victory that would be sung about for years to come.

Then Nalia collapsed to the ground and panted heavily. As the two-legs would say, her 'adrenaline rush' was wearing off, and she could feel her exhaustion and all her pain. Hopefully her partner-of-her-heart-and-mind would be able to do something about it.

The downed dragon looked around the circle of fire at the remaining evil-beast-Grimm. Instead of rushing Nalia, they turned away when her eyes fell on them. They all jumped through the fire, though it would have killed the smaller ones.

Cerise landed hard and rushed to Nalia's side. _Can you walk?_

 _Yes, but only that._ Nalia moved a leg and winced at the pain it brought. _When the battle is over, send Aaron for me._

Cerise blinked. _Are you telling me to leave you here?_

 _Yes. You can still fight. I can't, and I'll just be a liability if I return now._ Nalia snarled. _Go, before I decide to put you through advanced agility training early._

 _Of course._ Just as Cerise was about to take off, her head snapped to the right. She growled. _She's close._

 _Who?_ Nalia brought her head slightly off the ground.

 _The one who tortured my Gem at the flying-building._ Cerise took off and angled south.

Nalia lay her head back on the ground. She hoped Ruby would forgive her dragon for what she was about to do.

* * *

Emerald ran through the Emerald Forest, trying to get to the Bullhead she recently stole from the White Fang. Things had gone south in dramatic fashion. If only the Nevermores could have killed those pests when they were handed to them on a silver platter. She felt lucky that she got away from the people in the Colosseum that 'rescued' her, otherwise she might be in Atlas' custody. They wouldn't be able to do much if Cinder decided to punish Emerald.

Sure, Penny still 'died' and started this whole thing, but it was nowhere as dramatic as it should have been. Cinder was already furious when Yang didn't act as expected when Emerald was supposed to make the bimbo see Mercury attack. While she was narrowly able to make the cyborg see the Nevermores and cause another spike of fear and hate in the Colosseum, Cinder's wrath would be severe after the delayed act in the last match.

Still, that came nowhere close to the fury she felt from that dragon. Emerald shivered at the memory. She thought Adam was the angriest person on Remnant. He had nothing on the pure hatred that assaulted her head after she made the cyborg see the Nevermores. If she didn't leave now, she'd be killed for sure. Whatever Cinder had in mind for her had to be more pleasant than that dragon.

A loud roar filtered through the trees, and Emerald froze in place. That wasn't a Grimm. She stood still, hoping the dragon wouldn't see her. A lance of pain in her head dashed any hope she had. She started sprinting through the trees. The Bullhead was her only hope.

Eventually, the transport came into view. There were no Grimm around the Bullhead, leaving an open line to the cockpit.

Then the red dragon slammed down onto the roof, crippling the Bullhead. It snarled at Emerald, its pupils nothing more than slits. Emerald whipped out her weapons and started firing at the beast, but all the Dust rounds just bounced off its scales, or rather right in front of them. Too soon, she heard both her weapons click. She was out of ammo, and there was no way she could reload without that dragon being on top of her.

Emerald activated her Semblance and made the dragon see Emerald running away, or tried to anyway. Like with the bimbo and cyborg, there was something preventing her from doing exactly what she wanted. What she could access though, felt like no Faunus of human that she tried to mess with. She had no idea if it worked at all.

The dragon snarled. _Your tricks won't work on me, mind-manipulator._ While she sort of figured the dragons could talk, that was her first time experiencing it herself. The beast stalked off the ruined Bullhead. _I could let you off for stealing Vert's egg because he hatched for Velvet. But you made it possible for Mercury to give Yang a concussion, you tried to make Pyrrha kill Penny,_ it growled low and loud, _you_ _ **tortured**_ _my Rider. I can't forgive any of those._

Emerald turned around and ran. The ground shook beneath her, and suddenly she found herself facedown on the ground, with a massive weight on her back. She felt hot breath on the back of her neck. _The only reason you're still alive is because Ruby wouldn't want me to kill you. So here's what you're going to do instead. You are going to turn yourself in to Atlas, Vale, or whoever's in charge when this is all over. You are going to explain your involvement in all of this. You are going to tell them what you did to Yang and Ruby._ Emerald felt the pressure on her back increase, then scales and teeth pressed against the back of her head and neck. _If you try to leave Vale before you do so, I will know, and I_ _ **will**_ _kill you._

The weight disappeared. At the same time, there was a gust of wind. Emerald slowly looked back, and saw that the dragon was gone. She slowly stood up and reloaded her weapons. She was scared enough to attract hordes of Grimm, and this time Cinder wasn't there to protect her.

Emerald looked to the ruined Bullhead. There was no way she was going to that heap of metal flying again, and there was no way she could outrun a dragon. Either she could go back to Vale and most likely face Cinder's wrath, or run and almost certainly be killed slowly by that dragon.

Seeing the obvious choice, Emerald ran back the way she came. There was always the chance that Atlas might be able to protect her from Cinder.

* * *

At the moment, the amount of Grimm surrounding Ruby was minimal. For whatever reason, the tide of Grimm slowed in the past few minutes. She plowed through what Grimm there were and headed for the docks. Most of her team was there, along with dozens of others. It would be nice to see a friendly face after Halcyon left her to find Yang.

Ruby cut down a Beowolf and looked around. For the time being, that was the last Grimm in the area. She folded up Crescent Rose and ran normally to the docks. Eventually they came into view. A lot of people loaded onto all sorts of transports from airbuses to Atlas transports that survived the android uprising.

Up ahead Weiss turned around and her eyes lit up slightly. "Ruby!" she called.

Ruby ran up to and hugged her partner. "It's so good to see you." She tried to keep the tremble out of her voice, but wasn't completely successful. Recent events were still fresh in her mind.

Weiss gently pushed Ruby away. "Ruby, where have you-"

"I got stuck behind a lot of Grimm when Halcyon flew to get Yang." Ruby looked around, even though she didn't feel her sister's mind anywhere near there. "Where are they anyway?"

Weiss didn't say anything. Instead, she looked over at Blake. Ruby took in a sharp breath when she saw a bloody bandage wrapped around Blake's midsection. "They're flying to Patch," the Faunus explained. "Yang took a pretty hard hit and couldn't really fight." She paused. "She might have actually saved my life."

Ruby rushed to Blake's side and knelt down by her injury. "Why hasn't anything been done about this?" She started whispering in the Ancient Language to heal the injury.

"Aaron wasn't around when I got here." Blake sighed in relief when Ruby pulled her hand away.

"And Velvet's kind of…well…" Weiss trailed off. Ruby looked over to where Vert lay and her breath caught in her throat. Vert's right wing was bent at several unnatural angles with bits of bone sticking out at places. No blood poured out at the moment, but it could have been much worse earlier. Velvet had her arms around her dragon's neck, almost the entire front of her body stained red.

Ruby stood up and looked toward the forest. "Cerise said Nalia went down out there. I take it Aaron's checking on her?"

"From what I've heard, yeah," another voice said from the side. Ruby turned to it and saw Sun walking over. "Look, they're going to be okay. Atlas has their one ship back and I haven't seen that Grimm dragon in a while. Still, there's too many Grimm for us to take out. Reinforcements are coming, but right now the people in charge want us out of here."

"But Pyrrha and Jaune are still missing!" Nora said. Ruby looked to her and Ren, both of them looked like they had a tough battle. Ren's weapons didn't even have their points.

"The Grimm are still swarming!" Sun insisted. "Most of us are injured, and we won't be able to last in a long term engagement. There's no problem with tactical retreats."

Ren shakily stood up. "We're not leaving." He didn't even unbend his knees before he collapsed.

Ruby looked back toward the school and stretched her mind out. She didn't notice those two earlier while searching with her team, but then again she wasn't looking for them in particular. Both their minds had an odd feeling to them, something Ruby hadn't seen in either of them before. "I found them. They're near the base of the tower, and…wait… Jaune's flying?" Ruby looked at where she felt the other team leader's mind and saw a rocket locker flying through the sky toward the city.

"So, he just left Pyrrha alone?" Weiss asked while glaring at the rocket locker.

"There's more to it than that…" Ruby and Weiss locked eyes. "You with me?"

Weiss nodded. "Of course." She turned to Ren and Nora. "Find Jaune and figure out why he left like that. We'll bring Pyrrha back." She started running toward the center of Beacon with Ruby right on her heels.

The partners proceeded to the central courtyard without meeting a single Grimm, though a few White Fang grunts took potshots at them. Ruby took care of each of them with one carefully placed Dust round.

Weiss' scroll rang at when the pair reached the base of the tower. She quickly took it out. "It's Jaune!" She hit the talk button. "Where are you?" she demanded.

"Weiss! Please you have to stop her!" Jaune pleaded on the other side. Ruby and Weiss exchanged glances. Neither of them expected that response.

"What?"

"Pyrrha! She's going after that woman, at the top of the tower! She doesn't stand a chance!" Ruby looked up and stretched her mind out in that direction. Pyrrha was up there…along with a dark shielded mind. The same one that Ruby felt on the night of the dance.

"Jaune, what are you talking about?" Weiss asked, oblivious to what Ruby just found. "Where are you?"

"Don't worry about me! Please...You have to save Pyrrha." Jaune sounded like he cried out the last few words.

Weiss hesitated. "We will. Are you okay?" Jaune screamed over the scroll, and that was followed by a cracking sound. "Jaune? Jaune!" Weiss sighed and put her scroll away.

"Cerise, I could really use a lift right now," Ruby called with her voice and mind.

 _I'm still a minute out,_ Cerise responded, _and that's if the flock of Nevermores I'm staring at don't attack me._

Ruby gritted her teeth. "We might not have that long."

"What's going on up there?" Weiss asked.

"Pyrrha's fighting the person I did on the night of the dance. Judging by the strength of their Auras, Pyrrha's losing." Ruby ran into the base of the tower and looked at the elevators. The only one that went as high as Pyrrha was completely missing. The doors were open and the elevator shaft could be seen through them.

"Looks like we're doing this the hard way." Weiss stuck her head into the shaft, then immediately jumped back. Seconds later, the elevator car rushed passed faster than an elevator ever should. Another few seconds later, it crashed at the bottom.

"You okay, Weiss?" Ruby helped her partner off the ground.

"I'll manage." Weiss brushed herself off.

Ruby looked back up. "Pyrrha needs help now. Wait for Cerise, I have to go up."

"Okay, just take care of yourself up there." Weiss turned around and ran out of the tower.

Ruby folded Crescent Rose into its rifle mode. She took a deep breath and jumped into the elevator shaft. "Adur." Her slight downward motion stopped and she slowly crept upward. It took her way too long to reach the top. Pyrrha needed help, and she needed it yesterday.

Faint light came in through an open door only a few feet above her. Ruby prepared to shoot whoever it was attacking Pyrrha. Hopefully she had the element of surprise. She rose to the same level as Ozpin's office. Pyrrha was on her knees, with her assailant aiming a bow and arrow at her chest.

Without really thinking, Ruby fired off a quick shot. It shattered the bow and arrow, most likely saving Pyrrha's life. Ruby placed her feet on the back of the elevator shaft and kicked off. She shot forward and used her weapon as a club to knock the woman off her feet.

As soon as she came to a stop, Ruby fully extended Crescent Rose and looked at her opponent. Cinder, one of Emerald and Mercury's other teammates, stood by the remains of Ozpin's desk. If two members of that team had evil intentions, why shouldn't their leader?

"You're not hurting anyone else, Cinder!" Ruby took several more shots at her opponent, but she blocked them all with a hand.

Cinder's eyes glowed and fire formed in her hands. "You don't have a choice in the matter." She thrust her arms forward and fire launched at Ruby. The Rider had to use her Semblance to dodge the attack, and keep using it to avoid all the following attacks. She took care to stay away from Pyrrha so she wouldn't be incinerated.

After making a full circle of the office, Ruby rushed Cinder and took a massive, bionic boosted swing at her. Cinder caught Crescent Rose on the blade and sung the scythe and wielder around her. Ruby flew into one of the few concrete pillars surrounding the office, missing flying off the tower by inches.

Ruby sprung back up and glared at the now flying Cinder. _Cerise, I could use some backup! Where are you and Weiss?_

 _I got held up by those Nevermores I mentioned earlier,_ Cerise replied, _and Weiss is fighting a few well trained White Fang soldiers at the bottom of the tower. You can take my energy, but otherwise you're on your own._

 _Not entirely._ Several large broken gears floated behind Cinder. They flew forward and hit Cinder in the back. The woman was forced to the ground and Ruby rushed forward to attack. This time she actually managed a few hits before she was thrown away. She landed on her feet and stood in place to catch her breath.

Then Ruby remembered something Aaron taught her before the tournament. He said it could be useful if she ever needed to run into a burning building, or the early days Cerise could breathe fire. Now though, it could turn the tide of battle. "Skölir nosu fra brisingr!" Shield us from fire. She felt a small drain in her energy as the ward formed around Pyrrha and her.

Cinder launched a stream of fire at Ruby, and the Rider didn't move out of the way. Instead of hitting her though, the blaze parted in a sphere around her. She could still feel the heat, but she didn't burn. Ruby activated her Semblance and ran through the inferno. Using the cover of the flames, she managed to hit Cinder into the concrete wall at the back of Ozpin's office.

Ruby felt the drain in her energy, but a stream from Cerise brought her back to full strength. "You're not the only with a few tricks up their sleeves!" Gears and other pieces of metal flew past Ruby and buried Cinder against the wall. Pyrrha may have been down, but definitely not out.

In a burst of fire, all the metal flew away from Cinder. Ruby put herself between Pyrrha and the flying metal to protect her friend. Cinder stood by the wall, the smirk she wore earlier gone. She waved a hand in front of her and two short swords formed out of glass. Ruby dropped into a defensive stance.

Cinder launched forward, using her fire to propel herself. Ruby caught the first strike on her scythe, but she was forced backward from the impact. Cinder pulled back and launched a series of strikes that Ruby had a hard time keeping up with. The Rider was forced to backpedal to stay ahead of the attacks launched at her.

Then Crescent Rose was ripped out of Ruby's hands. Cinder somehow got enough leverage to tear the weapon away. Now weaponless, Ruby had to catch strikes on her bionic limbs. Even though Yang helped in the matter, Ruby was no close combat fighter. Cinder continuously got past Ruby's guard and hit her all over. The Rider couldn't land a punch or on Cinder to save her life, which was exactly what was going on.

After a vicious swing, Ruby was thrown across the office and almost slid into the open elevator shaft. Her Aura was practically gone and she hurt all over from where Cinder hit her. She slowly pushed herself up, until an arrow actually embedded itself in her right shoulder. She screamed and fell back down. _Ruby!_ Cerise yelled. _I'm coming!_

Ruby looked up at Cinder. She stalked over to Pyrrha, her swords now joined at the hilts to form a bow. "Now to finish what I started," she growled.

Ruby raised her left hand to cast a spell to knock Cinder back. Before she could open her mouth though, the light in the room got noticeably brighter. A strong wind suddenly blew through the office, despite most of the windows remaining intact. Cinder faced the wind, then was blown back into one of the concrete pillars between windows. "What?!" she shouted over the wind.

Only then did Ruby notice the drain on her energy. _Wait…I'm doing this?... Just like the Nevermore base…But I can control it._ Realizing this, Ruby increased the amount of energy she put into the wind. She pulled energy from her dragon to sustain it and get it blowing harder. The temperature dropped in the room and frost formed along the wind's path.

Ruby slowly stood up, never taking her eyes off Cinder. She rolled her right shoulder, despite the pain that it caused. At least she still had use of it. The Rider advanced on her opponent. She stretched her right arm out toward Crescent Rose, hoping Pyrrha would get the memo. Seconds later, a familiar grip found its way into Ruby's bionic hand.

"You're not hurting anyone anymore!" Ruby ran forward and swung her scythe one handed. She ended up standing at the very edge of the tower. Crescent Rose met a little resistance, then it hit concrete. Ruby pulled her weapon back to strike Cinder again, but she wasn't where Ruby expected.

She looked back into the room and saw her opponent lying on the floor. A streak of red spread across the floor behind Cinder.

Ruby's breath caught in her throat and the extra light in the room faded. She looked at the blade of her weapon and her legs weakened. The blade was not supposed to be red, or dripping. Ruby looked back at Cinder and saw a tear in the back of her dress that was oozing.

The Rider stood in place, not sure what she should do. On one hand, Cinder was a bad person. The memory Ruby took from Mercury's mind showed that Cinder was in charge of everything that happened that day. She essentially ordered the deaths of who knew how many people. Then again…Ruby wasn't judge, jury, or executioner. She was too young to kill anyone.

Her mind made up, Ruby dropped Crescent Rose and ran to Cinder's side. Before she could get close though, Cinder created a large ball of fire around her. While it didn't burn Ruby thanks to her wards, it pushed her back. The fire lasted for a long time, and Ruby was too weak to push through it this time. A burst of flame spouted out toward Pyrrha and looked like it may have had impact even through the ward. "Pyrrha!" Ruby shouted. At the moment, she couldn't get over to her friend. Whatever was in Cinder's fire was too strong.

When the flames died down, Ruby looked at where Cinder lay. The woman was perfectly still, her chest wasn't even moving. Ruby hesitantly stretched her mind out to Cinder…and felt nothing.

Ruby took a step back. She couldn't breathe. _I…I…_ she shook her head. She still had work to do. "Pyrrha!" She ran to her friend's side and fell to her knees. The warrior pushed herself off the floor. "Pyrrha, what happened?"

"We were down in the vault." Pyrrha's pain was present in her voice. "Cinder attacked. There was nothing we could do. Ozpin's still down there."

"What?" Ruby looked toward the elevator shaft. How could Cinder beat Ozpin? He had to be one of the greatest Huntsmen on the planet.

"Ruby, are you-"

"I'm fine Pyrrha," Ruby cut her friend off. "I can take care it. But first where were you hit?"

"…My heel, but that's not what I meant. Ruby, you're-"

"A killer?" Ruby took a sharp breath in at her own words. She saw Pyrrha's horrified expression right before she focused completely on the injured heel. It had an entry and exit wound, signifying that the arrow head traveled all the way through. Cerise leant her energy as Ruby worked, helping the process go faster.

As she worked though, Ruby noticed a few changes in Pyrrha. For one, her Aura had recovered almost completely. Her injured foot said that at some point her Aura was completely gone. The bigger thing was the fact that Pyrrha's mind was now _shielded_. Aaron only said that he'd help Weiss and Blake do that, not anyone from JNPR. All Ruby got from Pyrrha's mind was an image of a woman she didn't know. Also, Pyrrha's mind wasn't shielded a few minutes ago when Ruby first touched it. If it wasn't shielded then, why now?

Questions for another time. Ruby pulled her hand away from Pyrrha's heel and held it above her right shoulder. A few minutes later that hole was healed. "Cerise, we need a medevac up here," Ruby said with her mind as well as out loud to clue in Pyrrha.

 _I'm coming Ruby._ Cerise responded immediately. _Any place you have in mind._

"Take Pyrrha to the rest of her team." Ruby stood up and retrieved Crescent Rose from the floor. "I'm going after Ozpin."

Cerise forced more of herself into Ruby's head. _No. You're coming with me. I'm not leaving you alone again._

Ruby whispered a few words in the Ancient Language and all the blood dropped off her weapon. _Pyrrha's not in the best shape, even though I did all I could to fix her heel._

 _Neither are you!_ Cerise voice was almost pleading. _I'll get Pyrrha to the docks, then the two of us can fly back to Patch together._

 _Great. We'll do that as soon as I get Ozpin._

 _Gem, your head isn't in the right place! Please come with me._

Ruby had to suppress a shudder. _It will be in an even worse place if I don't stay active._

 _Which is why I need to be with you when it happens! Ruby! don't jump down there!_

 _I'll see you after I get Ozpin._ Ruby jumped into the elevator shaft, and she heard Cerise roar behind her. She didn't see what the problem was. It wasn't like she was going to be fighting anyone, or be surrounded by the Never…

Ruby slammed her scythe into the wall of the elevator shaft. Metal screeched and sparks flew, but she slowed down as she neared the crumpled elevator car. She dropped on top of it and stepped into what Pyrrha called a vault. She was pretty far underground, but apparently not enough to entirely block her connection to Cerise.

The Vault might have looked impressive at one point. Right now though, stone and concrete rubble piled high in the center of the large room. Ruby stretched her mind out in the chaos and searched for her headmaster. She found him almost right away, but he was very faint. "Ozpin?" she called, hoping to get an answer. None came.

Ruby ran to the rubble pile and climbed to the top of it. Halfway up, she found Ozpin's cane sticking out of the rocks. She yanked it free and continued up. Once she reached the spot directly above where she felt Ozpin's mind, she jabbed Crescent Rose under a piece of concrete and started to clear the rubble. It was slow work for her already aching muscles, but it kept her head busy.

A few minutes in, she heard something land on metal behind her. Ruby turned to face it, weapon at the ready. She relaxed when she saw who it was. "Uncle Qrow, could you give me a hand here?"

Qrow hesitated, then ran to the rubble. "What are you doing down here, kid?" he asked as he wedged his own scythe under a piece of rubble.

"Looking for Ozpin. He's a few feet under where I'm standing." Ruby removed the piece of rubble that she was working on before.

"I saw your partner upstairs." Ruby paused in her work and looked at her uncle. "She looked exhausted and has a few new scars to accompany her eye, but she's okay."

Ruby nodded and got back to work. "I don't know what you have against her sister, but Weiss is nice once you get to know her. She's much better than she was at the beginning of the year."

"Do I want to know what she was like back then?"

"Let's just say me and Yang infected her." Ruby removed a large piece of concrete and wedged her scythe under another. "I think this one's it. Could you give me a hand here?" Qrow stuck his scythe right next to Ruby's and they both pulled back. Their combined strength removed the stone quickly, giving them a view of Ozpin.

He could very easily have been in worse shape. A few strips of dried blood coated his face, but the cuts that leaked them had since healed. His glasses were nowhere to be seen. He was unconscious, but relatively unharmed.

Ruby jumped into the small hole and hooked her arms through Ozpin's. She pulled, but the man didn't move. She looked over his body to see where the obstruction was. "His legs are pinned. Could you help me with this?"

Qrow wrapped his hands over the piece of concrete and Ruby pressed her back against it. She pushed and he pulled. A few seconds later the slab tilted and fell out of the way. With the rubble cleared, Ruby pulled Ozpin out of the pile. She handed the headmaster off to her uncle. "Now to get back to the surface…"

"I know another way up," Qrow said with Ozpin over his shoulder. He walked off toward the elevator, though at a slight angle.

"So do I." Ruby jogged to the elevator shaft and stood on the wrecked elevator car. _Cerise, I need your energy again._

 _Take what you need,_ Cerise huffed, irritation mixing with her concern. _Just get back up here quickly._

"Ruby," Qrow called from inside the Vault. "Last I checked, that elevator was out of commission. Unless you can fly, we're not getting up that way with any kind of speed."

Ruby turned back to her uncle and put on a light smirk. "Adur." Her feet left the floor and she hovered about a foot off the crumpled metal. "I can get us all up there in under a minute." She cut the flow of energy and touched back down.

"Something from your dragon, I take it?" Qrow quickly joined Ruby on the mangled elevator car.

"Yeah, I just hope Ozpin doesn't wake up while we're going up." Ruby looked to the top of the tower and pulled energy from Cerise. "Adur." All three people slowly rose through the elevator shaft. Ruby expected the energy drain to be significant with the added weight, but not at the rate it flowed out of Cerise and her. Still, it got the three Huntsmen out of the vault quicker than stairs would have been.

Ruby started to cut the energy flow as they reached the ground floor. "Ganga fram." The three people moved forward out of the elevator. The Rider completely but the flow of energy and collapsed to the floor. Ozpin's cane rolled out of her hand.

"Ruby!" Weiss voice called. Ruby looked up to see her teammate. Weiss gently helped her partner off the ground. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just a little exhausted." Ruby looked Weiss over to see if what her uncle said was true. Sure enough, there were a few thin lines of blood on her arms and face. "Weiss you're hurt. I can-"

"You've done enough," Weiss interrupted. She threw one of Ruby's arms over her shoulder. "Cerise told me what you did in Ozpin's office. She asked me to freeze the shaft to stop you from going down there, but you were too fast."

Ruby's head sunk. "She tell you everything?"

"Yes." Weiss' voice turned more soothing. "I'm not even going to pretend to know what that's like for you. You've done enough, and you need your rest. I promised Cerise I'd get you to her by any means necessary."

"This is enough." Ruby turned her head back toward the elevator shaft and saw Ozpin stirring at the base of a wall. Qrow was right there, his scroll in hand. Ruby faced back forward and the ground.

The mission was over. Everything Ruby heard said they were winning. Her part was done. No more fighting Grimm, no more White Fang...no more Nevermores...no more people she could… "No more…No more…"

If Weiss said anything else during the walk, Ruby didn't hear it. Her head swam with memories of the past few hours, and none of them were any good. Seeing the Nevermores, Penny dying, killing Cinder…This was a level nine Grimm attack. Who knew how many people didn't make it in the city?

Suddenly she stopped walking and the shoulders supporting her left arm disappeared. After a few seconds of no movement, a single large, red eye moved into Ruby's line of sight. _Gem?_ Cerise said.

"Just…just take me home," Ruby whispered. Cerise blinked once and lightly hummed. Her eye disappeared and was replaced by one of her paws. It gently wrapped around Ruby's waist. The Rider was moved next to her dragon's belly. Seconds later, she felt the wind from takeoff.

Ruby slowly moved her arms to wrap around Cerise' belly as far as they would go. _I should have listened to you Cerise._ She started to sob, her emotions finally catching up with her memories. _I should have gone with you and Pyrrha._

 _My Gem,_ Cerise hummed, _you did what you thought was best. Either way, we'd be in the same situation we are now._

 _I…I killed…_

 _You killed no one. Even with your limited medical knowledge, you would have been able to save her. I was in Cinder's head in her last seconds. She didn't want to be saved, so she used what energy she had left to keep you away._

 _But I still hurt her so she could die. Why did I do that? What was I thinking?_

 _You were eliminating a threat. Some take a little more pressure than others. No one will blame you for what you did._

 _No one but me…_

 _Talk to Yang when you both have clear heads. I believe she's found some ways to grow from this, or at least she's looking for some._

Ruby tightened her grip on her dragon and Cerise gently returned the favor. _The past two days…it's been too much._

 _I know. It's been hard on all of us. I believe there's a saying here, 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.'_

 _Or paralyzed…and that really the best thing to say right now._

 _Sorry._ Cerise paused. _Is there anything I can do for you while we're up here?_

 _Don't let me fall…and how about some music?_ Almost immediately, Cerise started humming. It still felt weird being so close to her dragon while she was doing that, but it felt right at the same time. Cerise 'sang' a lot of Ruby's favorites during the flight, well, those that weren't normally head bangers anyway. She couldn't hum at that speed and fly at the same time.

Eventually, Ruby was jarred in Cerise' paw. She looked behind herself and saw ground only a few feet away. As Cerise turned her right side up, Ruby saw her home, untouched by all the chaos in Vale.

Her dad burst out the front door, gauntleted hands raised. He slowly lowered them when Ruby and he locked eyes. Cerise released her Rider, and Ruby ran toward her dad at full non-Semblance speed. She ran into her dad and immediately wrapped her arms around him. Neither of them said anything for a time, they just held onto each other.

Taiyang broke the silence. "Ruby, what happened over there?"

"Everything. The Nevermores, White Fang, Penny, and…" Ruby tightened her grip on her dad.

"Hey, it's okay. It's over. The CCT signal is sketchy, but it's sounding like the Grimm and White Fang are retreating. No one's going to hurt you here."

"I know…But I can't get all that out of my head…"

"It's hard, but you'll get through it. A good night's sleep and-"

"If I sleep I'll see it all again!" Ruby buried her face in her dad's shoulder.

"None of that's real though. You aren't alone here. I'm here, Yang's here, Qrow's coming here, and it sounds like the rest of your team will be here." Her dad pulled away but kept his hands on Ruby's shoulders. "If you need anything tonight, anything at all, don't be afraid to wake me up."

Ruby nodded and turned back to Cerise. Surprisingly, Weiss was standing by the dragon's side. _She was in the saddle while I carried you._ Cerise gently shook her back. _Halcyon passed us on the way here on his way to pick up Blake. We'll have to make a few more trips if JNPR and CFVY want to get out of the city, if they can't find other transport that is._

 _Okay._ Ruby waved her partner over. Weiss slowly approached Ruby. "Well, since you're the first here, you get first pick on the guest bed or a couch."

"What makes you think I'd take a couch?" Weiss only sounded half annoyed.

"Last week we all slept with stone under our bedrolls. We're not exactly the most picky people when it comes to that anymore. Plus, some of our couches are really comfy."

Weiss sighed. "You have a point." Ruby led her partner into the house, while trying to keep her mind off anything that happened that day. Her dad held the door open for the two girls.

"You might want to take off your shoes," Ruby suggested as she did the same. "Dad doesn't like people tracking dirt into the house."

"Him?" Weiss looked back at the front door, which Taiyang hadn't come through yet. "He hardly seems like a clean freak."

"It's more along the lines of this was my mom's house first, and apparently she didn't like having to clean up all the dirt. It messed up her hood..." Ruby shook her head then looked into the living room. "So, you've got your choice of anything in here or the one guest bedroom."

"You have any suggestions?" Weiss asked, her eyes half lidded.

Ruby pointed at one of the chairs. "I'll unintentionally fallen asleep in that recliner several times."

"Good enough for me." Weiss walked over to the suggested chair and dropped into it. She held down one of the inside buttons and the chair automatically reclined. The heiress looked like she was out cold before the process finished.

Ruby walked through her house and quietly entered Yang and her shared room. Yang lay on her bed in her combat clothes. One of her gauntlets sat on her dresser, the other on the floor next to it. Ruby put the weapon in its proper place, then did the same with her own on her dresser.

The Rider lay down on her bed and latched onto Cerise' mind and gently reached out to Yang's. She was going to need all the help she'd get if she was actually going to sleep that night.

* * *

 **Yes! Kevin's dead, Cinder's dead, Pyrrha's alive but has to deal with the fact she killed Penny, and Ruby is in shock from everything that's happened. Despite those first two things, not a lot of good happened here.**


	46. More Secrets

**Well, last week this thing hit 300 favorites. I don't know how or why this thing got so popular, especially considering how poorly written the first few chapters were. I am getting help on that though. Still, a huge thank you to everyone who is reading this, whether you've stuck around from the beginning or if you've only found this recently.  
**

 **Unfortunately, I won't give you an extra chapter this week. With Act I only chapters away from completion, I'm going to stretch that out for a bit. Also, I need to relearn how to write around all my classes this semester and all the extra band things. Good thing Act II has a backlog of a few chapters already. Speaking of that, when Act II comes out, whether its an extension to A Rose's Scales or its own story, I'll give you the bonus chapter then. You'll thank me when you read it.**

 **The battle is over, but now is the time to rebuild.**

* * *

Ruby groggily opened her eyes and found herself staring at the wall of her room. The curtains were pulled shut over the window, but a lot of light still filtered through. She felt something fuzzy move in her arms. She looked down and saw that both her arms were wrapped around her dog. Zwei moved his head closer to Ruby's and licked her face. "It's good to see you too, Zwei."

"Ruby," Yang's voice said quietly, "you awake?" Said girl sat up and looked to her sister's bed. Yang lay in the same way she was last night, only her arms were folded over her chest and an ice pack sat underneath her head. Her head slowly turned to the side. "How'd you sleep?"

"Not very well." Ruby released Zwei and hugged herself. "You were there for some of it."

"Sorry I couldn't help more. I had to fight for the time I had." Yang's head returned to its straight forward position.

"Speaking of fighting, Halcyon said you were in the field last night. How'd you manage that?"

"Aaron covered up my concussion symptoms. It worked for most of the time." Yang grimaced. "Then I saw this creep with a sword through Blake's stomach."

"What?" Ruby shrieked.

"She didn't think I could beat him." Yang ignored her sister. "I nearly didn't. You and Aaron are right about one thing; I can't fight against swordsmen the same way the rest of you can. I had to use Gambol Shroud so I had a better chance. But I'm no sword master, he hit me with something in the back of the head, and whatever Aaron did to cover up my concussion faded. After that, well, Halcyon's still helping me piece it all together. You might be able to ask Blake what happened after that."

Yang sighed and closed her eyes. "Do you think she would mind if I used it?"

Ruby shook her head. "I don't think Blake will give up her weapon."

"Sorry, I don't mean that. I mean Sun's Light."

Ruby blinked a few times. "What?"

"If I ever have to fight an experienced swordsman again, I'd like to at least be able to hold my own against them. Plus, didn't Aaron say that all Riders before used swords?" A single tear escaped Yang's eyes. "And…It's mom's weapon. I don't want the last blood in it to be hers."

"Oh." Ruby looked at her lap. What _would_ her mom think about it? If she was the weapon fanatic that everyone said she was, she wouldn't like people touching her weapon without permission. Then again, if Ruby was ever a mom, wouldn't she let her kids use Crescent Rose when they were old enough, if only to experiment? "You'd have to ask dad for a better answer, but I think she'd be honored if one of us used Sun's Light."

"Thanks Ruby." Yang turned her head to her sister again. "Now what happened with you?"

Ruby froze up, then hugged herself harder. "I don't want to talk about it."

Yang propped herself up on her elbows. "Ruby." Even when concussed, her big sister voice shone through. "I can get it from you, or I can get it from Cerise. Plus, you've said you always feel better after you talk about it."

"Okay…" Zwei crawled onto Ruby's lap and lay down. Ruby spent the next minute describing what happened in her part of the battle, from saving Pyrrha in the Colosseum to most of her fight with Cinder.

Ruby paused in her explanation. "Remember when I asked Nalia if it was possible to use magic without the Ancient Language?" Yang nodded slowly. "Well, I did it again, but this time I could control it. It was a cold wind, just like before. I was able to pin Cinder to the wall and keep her there. I don't know if it's connected, but the room lit up too."

Ruby's throat constricted and her eyes started leaking. "Then I…I…I killed her."

Yang's eyes widened and her mouth dropped. "What?" She slowly stood up and crossed the distance between beds. The older sister sat down next to the younger and brought her into a bear hug. She didn't say anything, she just held Ruby close.

"I just," Ruby stammered, "I just didn't want her to hurt anyone else. When I tried to help her, she made a shield of fire around herself that for whatever reason I couldn't get through."

"It sounds like she didn't want to be saved." Yang rubbed Ruby's back. "You did what you could."

"That's supposed to make it better?" Ruby leaned into Yang, but otherwise didn't return the hug.

The door to the room slowly swung open, creaking loudly all the way. Yang tensed up at the sound, but didn't let go of Ruby. "Hey, you two," Uncle Qrow said from the doorway. "How ya holding up?"

"Okay, given everything that's happened." Ruby looked at the floor. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough. You may not like it kid, but you're actually handling this better than your mother." Ruby looked up at her uncle. "We didn't hear from her for over a month after she took her first. When we finally did, she was in bad shape. She had a worse drinking problem than me now if you can believe it."

Ruby and Yang exchanged glances. "What changed?" the older sister asked.

"She was with at least one of us at all times of the day, and she wanted to be a good 'aunt' for you." Qrow looked at the ground. "She'd ki…she wouldn't be very happy if she saw me now."

"Why are you telling us this?" Ruby asked.

Qrow walked over and put a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Because even the strongest have their moments of weakness. It takes an even stronger person to admit that they need help."

Ruby looked down at her lap again. "Thanks, Uncle Qrow."

"Don't mention it kiddo. If you're interested, your dad and one of your friends are making pancakes for everyone."

Ruby's head shot up. "JNPR's here?"

"Yeah. I flew 'em in on a White Fang Bullhead I commandeered. Though after what they pulled at the tournament, I figured they'd be a little more talkative."

Ruby turned her head to look at Yang. "Want anything?"

"A stack of chocolate chip and some orange juice." Yang stood up and walked back to her bed. "And another ice pack. This one's getting warm."

"Coming right up." Ruby walked to the doorway while Zwei hopped onto Yang's bed. She turned back to the room right before she left. "Uncle Qrow, you coming?"

"In a little bit. I've got to have a talk with your sister first." Yang cast a glance at her uncle before laying back down on her ice pack.

Ruby shrugged then walked out of her room. She heard talking down the hall for the first time down the hall. Just like Uncle Qrow said, JNPR was in the house. Ruby entered the living room and saw most of the other team and her own in the room. Ren was probably on one in the kitchen helping Taiyang make the pancakes. There was one person missing though. "Where's Aaron?"

Suddenly all eyes in the room turned to her. "You're awake," Pyrrha sounded surprised. "Uh, as far as I know, he and Nalia are still back in Vale."

"Coco texted me," Weiss interrupted. "Nalia's injuries were worse than they thought. Aaron and Nalia joined CFVY in a city park for the night. Apparently Aaron's thinking about getting doctors and vets to help out with the dragons' recovery."

Ruby looked at the ground. If Aaron brought in non-Riders to help with healing Nalia and Vert, their injuries must be severe. Speaking of injuries, Ruby looked up at Pyrrha. "I didn't miss anything in your ankle, did I?"

Pyrrha shook her head. "I can't even tell I was shot there."

Jaune gave Ruby a small smile and he put one of his hands on top of Pyrrha's. "Thanks for helping Pyrrha out. Glad to see you're alright too."

Ruby looked back at the floor. "Define 'alright.'"

The already somber mood in the room tanked even more. "Pyrrha and Cerise filled us in on what happened," Blake said. "I don't see anything you could have done differently."

"I do…" Ruby walked past her friends and into the kitchen. Sure enough, Ren was working side by side with her dad.

Taiyang looked at Ruby and smiled. "Good to see you're up and moving."

"Yang said she wants the usual," Ruby mumbled, ignoring her dad.

"Got it," both pancake chefs said at the same time. They shared a glance, then continued to work. "Anything I can get for you?" Taiyang asked.

Ruby looked around the kitchen. Normally she would have asked for the same thing, but that didn't feel right. Even the carton on strawberries set on the counter top didn't look appetizing. "I'm not hungry."

Taiyang's smile faded. "Okay. Just say when." Ruby left the kitchen and walked to the front door.

"Ruby, where are you going?" Weiss asked.

The girl barely turned her head to look at her partner. "I need some fresh air." Ruby pulled her shoes on and walked outside. As soon as her feet hit the grass, Cerise was by her side. The dragon rubbed her snout against the side of her Rider's face. Neither of them said anything as they walked to a corner of the extended front yard.

Ruby sat down in the shade provided by one of Cerise' wings. She looked around the yard for the other dragon. Halcyon was right next to Yang's window, one of his eyes lined up with the small crack in the curtains. It appeared Halcyon was just protective of his Rider as Yang was of him.

"How'd you do last night?" Ruby asked her dragon.

Cerise hesitated. _Varied. All the basic Grimm were no match for me, even Deathstalkers and King Taijtus fell before me. Just before Atlas' androids turned on us, I found Violet and her mother._

Ruby turned to look her dragon in the eye. "Are they okay?"

 _As far as I know, they're safe back in their nest right now. They almost weren't though. The androids turned on us as I was escorting them home._ Pride shone through Cerise' somber mood. _Then this happened, but on a much larger scale._ She opened her mouth slightly, and a small tongue of flame came out of her mouth. _Those metal-men melted before me._

The Rider couldn't help but smile. "You got your fire." A few days ago, she would have been bouncing-off-the-walls-excited. But after the past day, all she could muster was a genuine smile.

Cerise closed her mouth and hummed happily. _I used it to great effect on the Grimm dragon. I just wish I could have grounded it before Nalia was knocked out of the sky._

The dragon turned her head away from her Rider. _Then I found Emerald running through the Emerald Forest to a Bullhead._ Ruby tensed up beside her dragon. _She was running, scared of Cinder, but even more of me. She hurt you and tried to get Pyrrha to kill Penny._

Ruby inched away from her dragon. "You didn't…kill her did you?"

 _No...but I told her I would if she ran._ Guilt poured off Cerise like a waterfall. _But…I may have made you kill Cinder._

"What?" Ruby quickly stood up and stared at the back of Cerise' head.

Cerise slowly turned her head until she looked Ruby in the eyes. _I was in your head when you heard her speak. The same voice from the Colosseum. I lost it. I gave to everything I had for you to take her down. Some of my anger may have slipped over our link. I know you didn't want to kill her, or anyone. This is the only way I can see you doing this._

The dragon hummed sadly. _I don't regret that Cinder's dead. Far from it. I do regret making you do it._

Ruby stood in place, eyes leaking fiercely. She slowly turned around and started walking into the forest. The ground shook beneath her feet. "Stay here," she said while slightly turning her head. "Please." Ruby blocked her dragon from her mind and walked into the forest.

The girl didn't know what to think. Her dragon, her _soulmate,_ just made her kill someone. Ruby couldn't believe her little Cerise would do such a thing, even by accident. This was a betrayal of the highest order. Few things could be worse than that.

Ruby walked for longer than she cared to remember. At some point, she crossed the patrol routes that kept the rest of the island safe. There weren't any Grimm in the area, which was good considering Ruby left Crescent Rose on her dresser.

Eventually Ruby reached her destination. She took her gaze off the ground and looked at the cliff. Two Beowolves stood on either side of her mom's tombstone.

Ruby raised her left hand. "Adur." Both Grimm floated a few feet off the ground They flailed around in the air, trying to get out of whatever held them in place. "Ganga aptr." They sped backward off the cliff. Ruby cut the flow of energy and the Beowolves fell to the ground more than a hundred feet below.

As Ruby lowered her arm, she felt something, or was it she _didn't_ feel something. Before she would have had at least a spark of happiness from killing two Grimm. Not that time, though.

Ruby shook her head and ran the rest of the distance to her mom's gave. She fell to her knees and inspected the rose she planted. Luckily there wasn't even a petal out of place. She turned her head to look at the tombstone and again saw it in perfect shape.

But something caught her eye on the other side. Ruby blinked in surprise. _Didn't I only plant one rose?_ A second second bloomed on the other side of the stone. It too had both white and red petals, with the same ratio between the two colors as the other. Still, it shouldn't be there. Yang didn't grow a rose, and flowers don't grow that fast naturally. _That energy when Cerise touched the stone...Did that have something to do with this?_ That would be more like her dragon.

Still, Ruby didn't come here to kill Beowolves and play gardener. She looked at the tombstone, one of the few physical things that could represent her mother. "Hi mom." Her voice was nowhere near as strong as it was when she was there earlier in the week. "Sorry about those Beowolves. At least I took care of them without making a mess.

"I know what you're probably thinking. 'Two times in one week? Either something really good or really bad happened.' Well, something really, really bad happened. The tournament started out fine, we made it through the first three rounds…" Ruby bit her lip. "Then Yang got a concussion after her first one-on-one match.

"That's not even the worst part. We were targeted. I would probably feel better if Cinder, Mercury and Emerald were just after the prices on our heads, but they were trying to destroy Vale. They…" Ruby let out a sob, "they tried to get Pyrrha to kill Penny. We stopped them, but Penny still died.

"Then the Grimm and White Fang attacked. They swarmed Amity Colosseum, Beacon, Vale, everything. Atlas' androids turned against us. I don't know what happened in the city, but Beacon was in bad shape from what I could see."

Ruby's throat constricted and she couldn't stop her eyes from turning into waterfalls. She looked down at her lap. "I…I killed Cinder…It would have been better if I meant to do it but I didn't! What's worse is that Cerise made me do it and _she_ didn't mean it."

The girl paused and slowly looked up. "Mom, what do I do? I didn't want this to happen. I _never_ wanted this to happen. I want to be a Huntress to kill Grimm and _protect_ people. I mean, in the back of my head, I knew it was possible, but not this soon. How do I come back from this?" Of course, no answer came. Ruby looked back down. "I wish you were here."

Ruby knelt in place, unable to say anything more. A cold breeze blew in from behind her. Instead of dying down though, it stayed for a long time. At first, Ruby thought it might be her making an unintentional wind again, but she didn't feel any drain on her. As the wind blew on, it felt like it was taking some kind of shape. Somehow, it felt like being hugged from behind. _Ruby…_ The girl looked gently from side to side, trying to find where that mental voice came from, but there was no one around.

Even though the delivery was different, it was the most comforting feeling she felt in a long time. It was _exactly_ what she needed. Ruby felt the tension leave her body and her worries evaporate. Eventually she was able to put on a small smile. She looked up to the sky. "Thanks mom."

The Rider stood up after a few more seconds with her mom and contacted her dragon. _Cerise, I'm sorry I shut you out like that. I'm ready to be picked up._

 _I'm on my way._ Cerise' franticness was a stark contrast to the calm Ruby felt. _Ruby, are you okay?_

 _I'm fine. I had a talk with mom, now I'm feeling a lot better._ Ruby turned around and faced the trees. She took a few steps forward, then stopped when she saw several sets of red eyes in the trees. _Though it looks like I attracted some Grimm before I calmed down._

 _Do you have your weapon?_ Cerise tried to copy how calm Ruby was, but failed miserably.

 _No, but I don't need it to take these things down._ Ruby held her arms away from her body. "Brisingr." Both arms were engulfed in flames, but didn't burn. She barely even felt the heat. The Rider raised her arms and fell into a defensive stance.

Four Beowolves charged out of the trees, one of them an Alpha. A light wave, and an easy one after what Ruby faced last night. She raised her left hand and a stream of fire shot out of it. The inferno connected with the Alpha and it was blown backward. Ruby ceased the flow of energy, revealing a charred Beowolf lying on the ground.

The other Grimm used that time to close the distance to Ruby. Instead of backing off, though, she faced them head on. Arms still on fire, she swung her right arm at the first Beowolf. The flaming fist punched right through the Grimm's midsection. Ruby swung her arm around and the corpse slammed into another. Both Beowolves fell over the cliff.

Ruby turned to the last Grimm. She raised her left arm. Instead of sending fire at it though, she called on what she discovered last night. A fierce wind blew from behind Ruby, taking some flame with it. The Beowolf lost its footing in the gale force wind and flew back into a tree. The Rider cut the flow of energy to whatever spell she just used but kept her hand up. "Jierda." The Beowolf's head snapped to the side, neck broken.

She lowered her arm and took a deep breath. Ruby regained a little bit of satisfaction for killing the Grimm. _Cerise, I think it's time to explain this to the team. From what I can tell, this wind is going to be a common thing._

* * *

Yang glared at the door her uncle just walked out of. _Or…how long ago did he leave?_ Everything he said was a lot to take in, especially with her concussion, but she got the gist of it. Uncle Qrow wanted Yang to keep _another_ huge secret from Ruby. She was tired of all these secrets. Aaron kept the bounties to himself, and look what happened after that.

Really, everything Uncle Qrow said was hard to believe in the first place. Magic existing before Aaron and Nalia coming to Remnant? The story of the seasons being more than just a story? It might have been her concussion messing with her head or a weird dream. This couldn't possibly be real.

Then again, Halcyon did confirm at several points what Uncle Qrow was saying was real, and definitely not a dream. It also explained a few things that Yang didn't even think about before, like the Atlas transport coming out of Fort Castle suddenly turning freezing in a few seconds…and all the snow that formed around Summer when she took on the Nevermores.

It wasn't what Ruby could potentially do that scared Yang though. It's what would happen if the wrong people _thought_ she could. Ruby already had enough problems with the bounty on her head that may or may not still be active after what happened last night. The thought of someone trying to take immense power from her little sister's lifeless body terrified Yang to no end.

Apparently Uncle Qrow thought the same thing. He told Yang to keep an eye on Ruby to see if anything besides wind and accidental temperature manipulation come up. If something like that happens, she was to report it to Ozpin, Goodwitch, or Qrow, whichever was faster.

Yang sighed and looked at the plate her breakfast used to be on. Her dad brought it in while Uncle Qrow explained the four Maidens. That was an interesting not-quite-shouting match between her dad and uncle. Both of them thought they knew what was best for Ruby, whether she should know now or later. Yang didn't know which side to take. She didn't know enough _to_ take a side. Her dad left the room before either side could claim they won.

 _Halcyon, could you help me stay balanced?_ Yang asked as she swung her legs off her bed.

 _Where are you going?_

 _The living room. I need a change of scenery._

 _But won't that-_

 _Probably, but I won't let this injury beat me._ Halcyon did as asked, but he still wasn't convinced. Yang stood up and the vertigo and wobbling was down to a minimum. She grabbed her empty plate, then walked out of her room. Zwei stuck right by her side. The voices down the hall were a little too loud for her, but it was probably just her concussion making things seem louder than they are. She didn't hear Aaron though, so there went the possibility of getting the concussion covering spell replaced.

Yang walked into the living room and was struck dumb by what she saw. Pyrrha was resting her head on Jaune's shoulder, and one of his hands covered hers. "Uh, when did this happen?" Yang asked as she stared at the apparent couple.

Jaune and Pyrrha looked up and both blushed a little. "Last night," Pyrrha stated.

"Right before she shoved me in a locker." Jaune rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.

Yang blinked, then smirked. "Not how I expected it, but it's about time."

Jaune groaned. "Am I the only one that didn't know what was going on?"

"I don't think Aaron had any clue," Ren offered.

"I'll give him a pass on that." Nora waved a hand at Ren. "He wasn't around the _entire_ school year, and I'm sure the indicators are different where he's from."

"She has a point." Yang shrugged as she approached the group.

"How's your head?" Blake asked Yang.

"It feels like a Paladin stepped on it." Yang plopped down next to Weiss and lazily placed her empty plate on the coffee table in front of her. "Aaron might have been able to do something if he was here."

"What did he even do?" Pyrrha asked. "I thought he said he couldn't do anything about concussions."

"Nothing direct. He just took parts of a…" Yang didn't see her uncle, but that couldn't mean he couldn't hear, "…nother spell that just covered it up.

"Stopped working when a red haired creep hit me in the back of the head where Mercury did though." She sighed then looked over at her partner. "From what Halcyon's helped me put together, the two of you knew each other. Is that still me being concussed or is there some truth to that?"

Blake looked at the floor away from Yang. "I've told you about Adam, right?"

"I've heard the name before, but…" Yang frowned in concentration, and Halcyon helped dig up the memory, "isn't that the guy you mentioned in Mountain Glen?"

"Yeah, well, you just met him."

Yang blinked. _"That_ was your partner? You worked with that guy? What happened?"

"I don't know." Blake shook her head. "He didn't change in an instant. Little choices that began to pile up. He told me not to worry. At first, they were accidents... then it was self-defense. Before long, even I began to think he was right. Then everything spiraled out of control. I got out as soon as I realized he was too far gone."

"You just made it sound like he was in charge."

"As far as I know, he was the one calling all the shots." Blake took her eyes off the floor. "Thank you for beating him before he could hurt anyone else."

Yang slowly nodded. "What happened to Rosie?"

Blake returned her gaze to the floor. "She…was arrested after she helped me back to Beacon's docks."

"What? Rosie's not one of them! She couldn't hurt anybody!" Yang winced as her outburst aggravated her concussion.

"You know that, I know that, but she was wearing a White Fang uniform." Blake shivered. "With all the people that Atlas and Vale arrested yesterday, it's only a matter of time before someone implicates me."

No one spoke in the room. All eyes were on Blake. "What have you done?" Weiss broke the silence. "It's not like you've done terrible things like the rest of them."

Blake's head sunk between her shoulders. "On the day I left, me and Adam attacked an SDC train…and succeeded. The only reason it lost one train car was because I detached the caboose."

"What?" Weiss yelled. Yang clenched her eyes at the sudden outburst. Maybe Halcyon was right and she should have stayed in her room.

"Halcyon should have let me run from Vale." Blake stood up and faced the wall, away from everyone else in the room. "None of you would be caught up in this if he just let me leave."

"Blake, we'd be caught up in this no matter what," Yang reasoned when her haad didn't hurt as much. "We're your teammates. They'd look into us either way."

"That's supposed to make I better?" Blake glared at Yang.

"I think she's meaning to say we all have your back," Jaune said. Blake turned to JNPR's leader. "We've known almost as long as your own team. We're all together on this."

"Were you involved in anything else that directly involved my father's company?" Weiss asked icily.

Blake fervently shook her head. "No. That was the only time."

All eyes were on Weiss as they waited to see what she'd do. Eventually the heiress sighed and the tension released from her shoulders. "If and when this comes up, I know how to get in contact with a few good lawyers. They'd make sure you'd have a fighting chance."

It was Blake's turn to sigh. "Thank you."

Halcyon entered his Rider's mind. _Yang, Ruby and Cerise are almost back._

Yang looked slightly out the window. _They left?_

 _Yes, though Ruby left an hour before Cerise._

 _An hour?_ Yang sighed. _I really need to get my head back in shape._ Seconds later, the ground lightly shook. The front door opened shortly after and Ruby stepped through. "There you are sis."

Ruby gave Yang a small but genuine smile. "Good to see you out of the room. Head still bothering you?"

"Yep. Added a few more sledgehammers into the mix in the last few minutes."

"Sorry to hear that," Ruby sat down next to her sister. "You know I'd help with that if I could."

"Everyone here would." Yang leaned her head back and groaned. "The sooner this goes away, the better."

"Well, I have something interesting to show you all," Ruby started, "I found a new ability while fighting last night." Yang looked back at her sister. She had a feeling she knew what Ruby was talking about.

Ruby raised her left hand and her eyes started glowing. Yang tried not to have any outward reaction besides the surprise everyone else showed. _Just like Summer,_ she thought to herself. The look was exactly like what she saw in the video, though less intense. Thanks to Ruby's insistence on improving and recent interest on using video recordings to help spot mistakes, she would see her glowing eyes in no time. She's smart enough to pick up the pieces.

Yang was so caught up with her little sister's eyes, she barely noticed a wind blow to life in the room. It grew in strength to the point where it rattled pictures hanging on the wall, but it died completely before any actual damage could happen. "So yeah." Ruby shrugged. "I can make wind now."

"Ruby!" Yang said almost scolding. It's probably what Aaron would do anyway. "Why did you-"

"I know what you're thinking!" Ruby threw her hands up in defense. "Nalia said doing things like that are dangerous. But, it feels natural. Almost as natural as using my Semblance." She lowered her arms. "I know you probably have no idea, but could it be because of Cerise? I mean, could her choosing me have impacted my Aura to the point where I can do this?" Ruby looked back and forth in between Yang and Pyrrha.

Yang looked at Pyrrha as well. Uncle Qrow mentioned her a few times when talking about Ruby's hidden power. Apparently she knew about everything as well. Yang stretched her mind out to her friend's to tell her not to say anything about it to Ruby, but Pyrrha's mind was walled. It wasn't an impressive wall, but it blocked Yang just the same. In fact, the wall was eerily similar to the feeling Ruby's walls gave off.

Pyrrha shook her head. "I don't know why you're looking at me. I don't know how your Rider abilities work." At least she didn't reveal anything to Ruby.

"I'd ask Aaron," Yang sighed, "but he probably won't know either. I don't think he fully knows how Aura works."

"Well it's not magic." Ruby looked at her left hand. "It drains my Aura more than my energy, and magic doesn't do that." She looked over at Nora. "You've been awfully quiet since I've been around here."

Nora shrugged. "I don't have anything to say. Last night was…intense. Plus, I don't want to be the one to be highly energetic while everyone else is trying to recover."

"Never thought I'd see the day when Nora is speechless," Jaune joked.

"I'm not blind to people's feelings, Jaune!" Nora put her hands on her hips, her normal tone leaking through.

"Well, I'm going to see if there's any food left. I'm starving." Ruby stood up and made her way to the kitchen.

"Last I checked," Blake started, "there was a stack of pancakes left."

Ruby stopped then looked at Nora. "Whoa. Are we sure if this is the real Nora?" Yang put on a small smile. Wherever Ruby went, it certainly helped snap her out of her low.

Nora turned around and glared at Ruby, "Well if you want a challenge…"

 _Hold that thought,_ Cerise interrupted. _There's a ship heading in this direction. I think I see the markings of the Vale police on the side._

Blake froze up in her seat. "That was fast."

"We don't know why they're here," Yang reasoned as she stood up and approached the window. She looked through the blinds and saw a transport flying directly toward the house.

"Hold on a second." Ruby headed for a kitchen. Seconds later she returned with her dad in front.

"Jaune, come with us," the experienced Huntsman said. "The rest of you stay here." He walked out the front door with the two team leaders in tow.

Yang continued to look through the blinds as the police transport landed in her front yard. The dragons gave it plenty of space, though they never took their eyes off it.

A door opened on the side of the vehicle and a single officer stepped out. Either that guy was overconfident in his abilities, or he didn't expect any resistance. That _almost_ ruled out an arrest.

The three from the house walked to the officer. Taiyang stood out in front and it looked like he was the only one talking to the officer. The policeman said something and Ruby tensed. She looked back to the house, then start frantically waving behind her while most likely yelling something. Jaune was saying things too, just as frantic. The officer held up a hand, and both teenagers stopped talking. He said something else and Ruby's shoulders slumped.

Ruby looked back once more, then followed the officer back into the transport. This time Yang tensed up, then she mentally contacted her sister. _Ruby, what's going on?_

 _It's fine, Yang,_ Ruby replied in the same calm way she acted the short time she was in the house. _Whoever's in charge right now wants me to speak on Penny's behalf. Not against Pyrrha though. Right now apparently there's no charges against her._

Yang sighed and released her tension. _Need some moral support?_

 _They don't want anyone flying from Patch to Vale. Even Cerise has to stay. I didn't get a good look at the city, but I saw all kinds of activity in the sky._ As if to accent Ruby's point, a Vacuan fighter flew over the house in the direction of the transport. _I don't know how Penny fits into this, but apparently they want to figure this out first._

 _Alright. I'm here if you need me._ Yang pulled back into her own head and faced the room. Surprisingly, Blake was standing by the front door and she looked like she was ready to break down. "Easy Blake. You're in the clear for now."

"Then why were they here?" the Faunus asked.

"Apparently they want Ruby to speak for Penny." Yang turned to Pyrrha, who turned white at the mention of the name. "If it makes you feel any better, you're not in trouble. Yet anyway."

Pyrrha shook her head. "I don't think it does."

Yang bit her lip. "Could I talk to you about what happened in the tower? Alone?"

The warrior nodded. "Of course." Pyrrha stood up and followed Yang out of the room. They ended up in Ruby and Yang's bedroom. "What do you want to know?"

Yang closed the door to her room. "How much do you know about Ruby?"

Pyrrha blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"You didn't react like everyone else when she made that wind. Uncle Qrow mentioned you a few times when he explained the whole situation to me. How do you fit into this?"

Pyrrha grabbed and arm and looked at the floor. "…Is Ruby summer, spring, or winter?"

Yang hesitated. "Winter…Why'd you leave out fall?"

"Because as of last night, I'm fall." Pyrrha held out her right hand. She squinted and her eyes glowed orange. Soon after a small flame burned to life in her hand. It died after only a few seconds though. Pyrrha staggered but she remained standing.

"Whoa." Yang blinked. "I didn't see that coming."

"Does Ruby really not know what she is?"

"No, but she will eventually. I'm sure at some point she'll see a recording of herself while 'making wind' or whatever she's going to call it."

"So, you don't want me to say anything?"

"That's the idea. Let her figure it out for herself. If she does anything besides the wind and something to do with the temperature though, we need to tell Ozpin and Goodwitch right away. I'm sure you know why."

Pyrrha looked to the side. "I may have an idea."

Yang hesitated. "I would like to know what really went on up there though, just in case Ruby shuts down again."

Pyrrha nodded. "I'll do my best."

* * *

 **Oh, before I forget, some people are still confused as to who 'Kevin' is. Kevin is the community given name for the Grimm dragon. I honestly thought that name was more mainstream than it actually is.  
**


	47. Blame Atlas

**The end is near! Only one more chapter left after this one in Act I. Stick with me through this. I think it's safe to say I have no idea how courts work...  
**

* * *

Ruby looked out the window of the small conference room an Amity Colosseum. While the building was neutral ground, the area around and below the flying arena was anything but. The escort fleet was back, but with their guns pointed at each other. Mistral's battleship was almost docked in the ports, and had its largest weapons pointed at the reclaimed Atlas frigate, and the others at Vacuo's ship. The aircraft carrier sat several miles out to sea, but its fighters flew cover over the city, occasionally dropping bombs outside the city. Vale's aerial corvette flew almost directly in between the ships from Mistral and Atlas. Most fire from other ships would hit the corvette instead of the frigate.

Overall, a Second Great War was likely if someone sneezed in the wrong direction.

The Rider tried to keep her calm mood alive as she looked at the city below her. It broke once when she thought she was going to testify against Pyrrha. Looking at the fight brewing below her sapped some of her strength. If Cinder wasn't right about the Kingdoms readying to go to war before, she was now.

"Miss Rose," a voice said from behind Ruby. The girl turned her head to see Professor Goodwitch walking over. "Is everything alright?"

Ruby shook her head. "The only things that are alright are that my team is safe on Patch or in the city and that I don't have to speak against Pyrrha. Everything else though…" she looked out to sea where the two destroyed Atlas frigates poked out of the water. "We could have prevented this. How many people didn't make it in the city?"

"Hindsight is twenty-twenty, Ruby. Mistakes can't be taken back, but they can be learned from."

"I'm starting to get why Doctor Oobleck is so insistent on that." Ruby looked back at the professor. "May I ask why you're here?"

Goodwitch looked out at the city. "I was on the ground in Vale when Atlas' androids turned on us. The councils needed a reliable account of what happened down there and when."

Ruby nodded. "Apparently they want me to speak for Penny. I just hope whatever I say doesn't come down on Pyrrha."

"It's hard to say what the council will decide." Goodwitch paused. "Did you know Penny was an android before the event?"

The girl fought back the evil memories of the last fight in the arena. "I did. I found out shortly before my team's mission to Mountain Glen. She's actually the reason I have the fake skin on my arm and leg." Ruby shrugged her right arm. "She may have been made of metal, but Penny was a person."

Goodwitch stayed silent for a second. "It's not me you need to convince of that, but I do believe you."

Ruby sighed. "One down, many more to go." She turned to look at the rest of the conference room. Several other Huntsmen and witnesses were scattered about the room. None of them looked like they wanted to be there, and all of them looked tired in their own way, or intently watching the news on the holographic screens around the room.

Though the signal completely cut out at points, VNN and other news networks were reporting the events in Vale and how the people in there reacted to the battle. All networks mentioned the amount of casualties in the event, but those ranged from only a hundred to several thousand.

One of the screens that aired VNN switched to an image of Emerald. Curious, Ruby walked forward and for once watched the news with intent. "…turned herself in to the Vale police department early this morning. One of our reporters in the department at the time overheard a conversation that she helped organize the attack on Vale." A picture of Mercury appeared next to Emerald. "Mercury Black, Sustrai's teammate and partner, was turned in last night by Huntsman-in-training Sun Wukong. Black was trespassing in Amity Colosseum, and reportedly attacked Ruby Rose, younger sister of Yang Xiao Long, and leader of team RWBY."

Most eyes in the room turned to Ruby. The girl just shrugged. "That's not entirely false. I got the jump on him before he could hit me."

"Sustrai has also implicated Black in the attack on Vale, along with the other two members of her team: Cinder Fall and Neo Glass. This has been called into question though, as Fall has not been seen since her appearance in the tournament and Glass was found toward the end of the most intense fighting missing her right arm and leg."

Ruby let her head drop and slightly turned her head to look at Patch. _Halcyon, what did you do?_ She turned away from the screens and looked back outside. Cerise _and_ Halcyon? Ruby could understand Cerise' anger, but she couldn't think of anything that could cause Halcyon do that to a person. He or Yang must have had some prior bad experience. Then Ruby looked down at her right arm. _Or…did Neo have something to do with this?_

She didn't have time to think on it though, as the door to the room opened and a Vale police officer stepped through. He looked at something on his scroll. "Ruby Rose, you're up." For whatever reason, the officer sounded a lot like Ruby's dad.

Ruby took a deep breath and stepped forward. The officer motioned for Ruby to follow him. The two of them walked through the administrative halls of the Colosseum. A few other Huntsmen and Vale police walked the halls. Apparently Atlas lost the right to guard the Colosseum, most likely due to the fact that their androids turned on them.

The officer held open a door to another room and gestured Ruby inside. The girl complied and slowly walked in. Three large holographic screens showed people that Ruby didn't recognize. Considering the fact that one of the two people in the room was the head of the Vale council, she could guess that the others on screen were the heads of the other kingdom's councils.

The only other person in the room drew Ruby's attention. While she didn't know exactly who the woman was, the patch on the woman's shoulder told Ruby all she needed to know. The woman was one of three people in the world with a truth seeking Semblance. Apparently Mistral deemed it necessary to send one of them.

"Miss Rose," the Vale councilman said, "you are here to shed some light on the existence of Penny Polendina, and her role in inciting the attack on Vale."

Ruby thought of a retort to the councilman's word choice, but kept in in her head. "How can I help?" she asked as evenly as possible.

"Were you aware that Penny Polendina was an android?" the councilman on the rightmost screen asked quickly.

Ruby hesitated before answering. No matter what, the truth would come out with that other woman in the room, but that didn't make it easier to say. Atlas might come after her for knowing it. Still, there might be a way to push her view on the whole thing. "I knew she was made out of metal and other non-organic materials a week or two before the Breach in Vale. I wouldn't have my fake skin on my arm and leg if she didn't help out."

"In other words," the Vale councilman started, "you knew Penny Polendina was an android."

"She was a person that just happened to be made out of metal."

"Need I remind you that personal feelings have no place in this investigation?" the councilman on the center screen asked.

"…No." Ruby slightly lowered her head. There went that approach.

"Can you explain the events leading up to the destruction of Penny Polendina?" the last councilman asked.

Again, Ruby wasn't happy with the word choice. "I arrived at the Colosseum about a half hour before the match began. I just sat around waiting for the next round of matches to begin like normal. Then I saw Emerald sitting elsewhere in the stands. My team has some…history with her, and we found out that her Semblance allows her to make people see and hear things that aren't there."

"I assume that is the reason of your mental breakdown in the Colosseum?" the Vale councilman asked.

Ruby bit her lip while nodding. "I was getting to that…My team was told by Professor Ozpin that her entire team was banned from the Colosseum after Mercury attacked my sister and, well, that last part." Mercury was _so_ lucky that Yang didn't know he spit in her hair. "Since she wasn't supposed to be there, I had to get around the arena to confront her. Looking back though, it probably would have been smarter to get some guards to do that. When I got close...yeah. She made me see something that I'd rather not speak about." The truth seeker shifted in her seat, but didn't say anything.

"May I ask how Emerald Sustrai is relevant to this investigation?" the center asked.

"Because Emerald's original plan was to get Pyrrha to kill Penny and start off the Grimm attack."

The Vale councilman turned to the truth seeker, who nodded. "How did you come across this information?"

 _Oops…_ "I heard it from Mercury."

"False," the truth seeker said simply. "That is not how you received that information."

That seemed to get all the councilmen's attention. "Lying in front of a truth seeker," the leftmost councilman said. "Either you have something to hide, or you aren't as smart as you think you are."

"Did you have any input on the destruction of Penny Polendina or the attack on Vale?" the center asked.

"No, absolutely not." Ruby fervently shook her head. "I would never do something like this." She looked at the truth seeker again, who slowly nodded.

"Then you have nothing to hide," Vale's head said. "The source of your information can possibly help speed this process along."

Ruby looked at the floor. She couldn't tell them how she got the information from Mercury. She physically couldn't.

An idea hit Ruby. She looked at the truth seeker. Maybe there was a way she could get out of this. She faced the council once more. "I got that information for Mercury, but I physically can't tell you how."

"That's preposterous," the right councilman said. "You can speak, so you can tell us how."

"Actually," the truth seeker started, "she's telling the truth. She can't tell us how."

After a few seconds of silently staring at the truth seeker, the Vale councilman turned back to Ruby with a scowl on his face. "One last question. If you truly believe that Penny was a 'person,' then you believe Pyrrha Nikos should be charged for murder is the cause of 'death' is related to her Semblance?"

Ruby froze up. "No! I don't know exactly what happened after my mental breakdown, but I do know Pyrrha didn't do anything to Penny after the buzzer! She would never kill anyone." Her breath caught in her throat. Up until last night, she could have said the same thing about herself.

After another few seconds of silence, the councilman nodded. "Very well. You are dismissed, Miss Rose. There is an officer waiting outside the door to take you to a ship down to the city. Thank you for your time."

Ruby nodded and quickly turned around and left the room. The same officer who brought her there led the way to the hanger deck. Ruby had to process what she just told the councils of Remnant. While she spoke for Penny, she might have hurt Pyrrha and herself at the same time. She could very well find herself back under the microscope for things she said in there…if that's how courts worked.

"Do you know when the no fly zone will be lifted?" Ruby asked the officer.

He barely turned his head back. "From noon to five Vacuo won't be patrolling the skies. Transports can fly in Vale and to and from Patch during that time. After that, it depends on how many Grimm are still around. That, and if all those ships still want to sink each other."

Ruby stayed silent the rest of the way to the small police transport. She climbed inside and watched as the ship left the Colosseum. She had an even better view of the naval standoff from the air. So many guns aimed at each other, and the city of Vale was in the center of it all.

A blue envelope appeared in her vision. Ruby jumped at the surprise. Probably Yang or someone else at her house checking in. She opened it up so see how worried her family was.

When it opened though, Ruby took in a sharp breath. She never expected to see that message, or sender again. _Salutations, friend Ruby!_

* * *

 _Now I know how the others feel,_ Nalia complained to her Rider. _I don't know how they survived._

"They all had to do their fair share of walking. So do you." Aaron patted his dragon's neck. They were about halfway to Beacon from the park where they spent the night in the city. Vert, Velvet, and the rest of CFVY were right behind them. Ruby called and gave the all clear an hour before. The large group set off right after that.

 _I'm surprised you haven't collapsed yet. When was the last you slept?_

"Too long, but thank whatever gods there are for coffee."

 _And did you really need to spend the whole night helping in the city?_

"You know we're better at search and rescue than anyone else."

 _Still, you can't help if you lose consciousness._ Nalia took a few more steps, then froze in place and tensed up. She clamped her eyes shut and growled lightly. _That one hurt._

"Another pain spike? Where was it this time?" Aaron looked up at his dragon's back, looking for any visual clues as to where the problem was.

 _It's gone. Regain your energy, then you can help me again. Really, you're being as overprotective as Velvet right now._

"At least I'm not supporting your head as you walk." Aaron looked back at the bonded pair behind him. Velvet hadn't left Vert's side since they left Beacon last night. The young dragon didn't fare any better than Nalia, and received a much worse injury. Aaron did what he could to fix Vert's right wing, but he wasn't confident that he fixed everything. He'd seen that kind of crumpled wing before, typically on young dragons that thought they could beat an intense storm or who thought they could pull out of a steep dive faster than they actually could. Either way, it took a team of healers or one elder Rider to heal the wing the right way. Aaron was neither.

While Nalia unlocked her Aura while fighting the Grimm dragon, it didn't help completely heal her injuries. Apparently Aura could heal superficial injuries with ease, but the more extreme ones it didn't affect at all, or took a very long time. Aaron found Nalia crawling in the Emerald Forest with several broken ribs and other assorted bones. Her wings themselves were relatively untouched, but muscles to them had been severed, rendering them useless. It was another injury that could ground dragons for life if not healed properly, but not as bad as a complete wing splintering.

Still, both dragons were alive, and could walk on their own. That couldn't be said for many in the city. When Aaron had Nalia's worst injuries healed, he roamed the city, helping out where he could. He helped excavate countless people from the rubble. When he tried to help with the actual healing process though, he was ushered out of the way by other medics. Something about 'too many cooks in the kitchen.' Still, he worked all through the night making sure there was no one alive left buried.

Needless to say, Aaron was completely drained, despite however much coffee he'd had offered to him while helping. Regardless of the shape the Dragonhouse was in, he planned on dropping down on the whatever was left of the couch and passing out.

Eventually, the walkers made it to Beacon's entrance. The once grand entrance gate was now in pieces on the road in. Craters and divots scarred the grass and walkways. The parts of the school Aaron could see looked mostly intact, but most buildings were missing windows and the armory was almost completely destroyed. Atlas and Vale soldiers were scattered around, most likely on patrol. A few students also roamed the campus, looking at the damage or cleaning up certain areas.

As the group walked toward the Dragonhouse, Aaron couldn't help but look to where the last bit of fighting took place. Professor Goodwitch was in the area, with a large red ball floating in front of her. With any luck, Velvet wouldn't look in the same direction. She probably wouldn't take to well to seeing that much of her dragon's blood.

A light roar came from the Dragonhouse. Aaron faced it and saw Halcyon standing in the large open doorway. Cerise burst past her brother and sprinted to Vert's side. She positioned herself right by the younger dragon's side and helped him walk from there.

From what Aaron could see from the outside of the building, it was mostly intact. No obvious wall collapses and only a few windows broken up top. The inside proved to be in a similar condition. It kind of made sense. Grimm wouldn't attack because it didn't have any people inside during the battle, and the White Fang wouldn't waste resources on an empty building. Then again, Aaron did see a White Fang soldier firing rockets at random at various buildings.

"You're back!" Ruby called from beside the couch. She waved at Aaron, then she winced and lowered her hand. She looked down and whispered something to someone.

"Let me guess," Aaron started, "Yang's here?"

"Barely..." Yang's voice carried over the couch. "Halcyon doesn't fly smooth at all."

"When did the spell wear off?" Aaron rounded the couch and sat on it arm, right by Yang's head.

"When some creep that was fighting Blake hit me in the back of the head where Mercury did." Yang had an arm over her eyes and what looked like cotton balls stuck in her ears. For whatever reason, she had Sun's Light strapped to her hip. "After that flight, it feels like a building dropped on my head."

"I can help with that." Aaron gently placed a hand on the top on Yang's head and started whispering in the Ancient Language. When he was finished, Yang gave a massive size of relief and gave Aaron a weak thumb up.

"How bad were Nalia's injuries?" Aaron heard Weiss ask.

The Rider turned to face the heiress. Blake stood right behind her, with JNPR right there as well. "Looks like everyone's here…Anyway, the Grimm dragon kicked her to the ground and broke a lot of bones and caused internal bleeding. She's 'fine' now, but she still can't fly after everything I've tried."

 _Not for a lack of trying on both our part's,_ Nalia offered as she settled down in her usual spot.

"She unlocked her Aura during the fight as well, so that probably has something to do with it."

That surprised several people. "Nalia did it by herself?" Pyrrha asked as she turned to face the dragon.

 _It was similar to how Aaron unlocked his._ Nalia turned her head to face Pyrrha. _The situation called for it, and I pulled it out. I now understand the shock of actually feeling Aura around me._

"As for Vert's injuries…" Aaron trailed off and looked at the young dragon. Velvet ran her hands along the injured wing, and Yatshuhashi helped with the multi-redundant inspection. Vert tensed at the touch, but kept the wing perfectly still. "He's not my territory. If you want to know how he's doing, ask Velvet."

"Enough of all this sad talk!" Ruby said energetically from behind Aaron. The older Rider turned around to see Ruby smiling fiercely and bouncing on her heels. "How about some good news!"

"What's that?" Yang asked as she finally sat up. "You're being upgraded from a Gold Cross to a Platinum Cross?"

Ruby shook her head. "Better!" She turned around and connected her scroll to the undamaged projector.

"Did something happen when the police picked you up?" Ren asked. "You weren't acting like this before then."

"Something like that." Ruby hit one more button on her scroll. The Projector hummed to life and displayed a life size image of Penny.

Aaron blinked and looked at Pyrrha. The champion fighter's eyes were as wide as they could go. Her face drained of all its color. A hand moved up to cover her mouth. Her knees shook, and Jaune had to steady her to keep her on her feet.

"Salutations friends!" The holographic Penny gave a small salute. "I know most of you must be troubled about what happened in the tournament, so allow me to relieve those concerns. My power core was damaged in my fight with Pyrrha Nikos, which caused it to produce more energy than the rest of me could take. It overloaded at the end of the fight, which caused the explosion."

Pyrrha fell to her knees and let her hand fall. "I…I did kill her…" She blinked twice. "But, how-"

"Pyrrha Nikos," Penny interrupted. She didn't look at Pyrrha, but kept staring straight ahead. Her smile didn't leave her face. "That was a fun fight. You won it fair and square, even if your mind was influenced by someone outside the arena. I don't blame you for what happened. There was no way you could have known." Pyrrha breathed a sigh of relief, but Penny's smile disappeared. "I can't say the same for my father. He's not very happy right now."

Slowly, Penny's smile returned and she looked slowly from side to side. "As you might have guessed by now, I am not dead, as you know it anyway. As a last resort, my memory banks are transmitted to my father's lab in Atlas over the CCT if there is a fatal error somewhere in my systems. That is where I am now, and my father is waiting on the verdict in the current trial to rebuild my body."

Aaron shifted uncomfortably on his feet. He still wasn't sure what to think about Penny being a fake person. To create life in that way…it wasn't quite necromancy, but it came awfully close.

"I'd love to say more," Penny continued, "but there's limits on how much can be sent over the CCT right now." She waved at the group. "I hope to see you all soon!" With that the projector deactivated.

After a few seconds of silence, Weiss asked, "So, she's alive?"

"Didn't you hear her?" Ruby asked back. "Yes! Hopefully she'll be back soon." She turned to Pyrrha, who was just getting off the ground. "Pyrrha, don't blame yourself over things you can't control. I learned that the hard way."

Pyrrha slowly nodded. "Still, I don't think I'll be able to rest easy until she is back."

"Does anybody else hear that?" Blake asked suddenly.

Aaron tilted his head. "It just sounds like airships in the area. Not surprising really."

"Yeah, but one of them is different…and it's getting closer."

 _I hear it too,_ Nalia offered. _Whatever it is, I've never heard it before._

Weiss' scroll rang and she looked at the caller ID. She tensed up and her face lost some of its color. "Oh no. Not now…" She turned around and almost jogged to the still open main door of the Dragonhouse.

"Weiss, what's going on?" Ruby asked as she did jog to catch up.

"My father's here." Weiss never slowed down, but Ruby stopped in her tracks.

Aaron and Nalia exchanged a glance. In the few months that they'd been on Remnant, Weiss rarely talked about her father, and when she did, it was never kind things. Aaron knew what family problems looked like, and this one had to be extreme.

A large and very expensive looking ship touched down right outside the Dragonhouse. Up ahead, Weiss instantly slowed to a walk. Her gait transformed to that of one from noble blood, an almost complete reversal from the past few weeks.

A door opened on the ship and a single man stepped out. His white hair was almost an exact match to Weiss'. He wore an almost completely white suit with a blue tie and undershirt. The man walked with an air of authority few men could match. He had to be Weiss' father.

Weiss met her father a few feet away from the ship. The rest of her team grouped up at a respectful distance, for moral support more than anything. Aaron looked over at Blake. "Can you make out what they're saying?"

The Faunus narrowed her eyes slightly. "He's trying to convince her to go back to Atlas. Weiss is respectfully telling him not a chance. And…" Blake tensed up and her bow twitched slightly. "He just brought up the White Fang…This could get ugly."

Blake's prediction came true almost immediately. The elder Schnee's face turned increasingly red by the second, and his voice steadily rose. Weiss, however, remained as calm as she was when the conversation started.

"The Faunus are animals!" Weiss' father suddenly exploded. "They are beneath us!"

Everyone Aaron could see tensed. A low and loud growl came from behind him, most likely from Vert. Ruby stormed forward, anger rolled off her. Aaron put a hand on her shoulder to try and stop her, but she just shrugged it off and kept marching. Weiss turned her head back slightly and drew Myrtenaster. She pointed it at the ground directly beneath Ruby and a glyph appeared that held the team leader in place. Ruby glared at her partner, but didn't fight it.

"You'll have to forgive Ruby." Contempt filled Weiss' voice as she turned back to her father. "She's a little defensive of the Faunus as she was _tortured alongside them!_ You have no right to call them animals! Even if they _were_ animals, I've seen them in positions that would put their abusers away for life. I've seen Faunus kids tortured, trussed up, and on display as _slaves!"_

Weiss stuck a finger at her father. "Those kids were like that because of people like you! Thinking you're superior by having a larger population than them? That's a laugh. If that was true anywhere in nature, Creeps and Beowolves would be the dominant Grimm. If anything, Faunus are superior to us! We might be stronger, but there are very few humans that can match their sight, hearing, and speed.

"And before you use the White Fang as an excuse, do you know how many Faunus condemn their actions? Last I checked, over sixty-five percent of Faunas hate what the White Fang does, while even more disagree. Most Faunus aren't hateful, and they just want to be treated like everyone else.

"As for Atlas being safer than Vale, I recall Atlas forces being hacked and turned against us. I also remember everyone in Vale beating back androids and Grimm alike, and coming out on top. If that happened in Atlas, we wouldn't stand a chance without the military.

"Look around!" Weiss threw her arms out. "I'm surrounded by some of the best warriors that Vale has to offer, and those that can literally eat Grimm for breakfast. I could argue for hours why I and a thousand times safer here than in Atlas."

Weiss practically growled at her father. "Until you realize all of that, I'm not going anywhere with you." She turned around and crossed her arms. The glyph beneath Ruby's feet disappeared.

Her father's face was completely red, a stark contrast to his white knuckles. He glared at the rest of team RWBY, and then slightly past them. Slowly, he returned his gaze to the back of Weiss' head. "So be it." He turned around and stormed back into his ship. Seconds later, the transport lifted off the ground and turned north.

Aaron watched the ship fly away, then looked back at Weiss. She still stood in the same position, but her eyes were closed and a single tear escaped. Eventually she opened them and looked at her partner. "Ruby, I'm sorry I brought that up. I should have asked first."

Ruby held up a hand. "It's okay Weiss, I was going to bring it up to."

"But he knows that you were tortured with Faunus now. He'll be able to figure out that you were kidnapped back then."

Ruby froze up, then looked at the ground. "Oh."

"Isn't that part of what happened still secret?" Aaron asked. "I can't imagine Atlas would want that kind of leak."

"I already leaked it though…" Ruby said weakly. "I blew that open when I did that one interview…Nothing that happened there is strictly classified now."

"But he still needs people to believe him," Coco called from behind the group. Aaron turned around to see CFVY and Vert approach RWBY. Coco gently twirled a scroll in her hand. "I got the whole thing recorded. I have a basic understanding on video editing. Just replace that line with another one." She looked over her glasses. "I have to say this Weiss, I never thought I'd hear a Schnee defend Faunus like that.

"…Thanks for the offer," Weiss started, "but I think it's a little more complicated than that."

"Don't we still have contacts in Atlas' military?" Yang offered. "I'm sure someone on the _Vytal_ come do something."

A cool breeze blew through the area, and Ruby took a deep breath. "Well, if this does go south, I'll have to own it."

Yang placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Uh, Rubes, this you?"

Ruby blinked and the breeze died out. "I guess I don't have as much control over that as I thought."

Aaron looked between the sisters. "Control of what?"

"About that…" Ruby rubbed the back of her neck.

Before she could speak though, Blake launched herself at Weiss. The Faunus brought the heiress into what looked like a suffocating hug. "Thanks for defending us."

Weiss stood in shock, then returned the hug. "After what I've seen…I couldn't justify what he said about Faunus after I found out about you. After the Nevermoress…I can't go back to Atlas until he figures it out for himself. I didn't make up those stats either. I legitimately looked it up at the end of last semester."

Vert hummed and walked over to Weiss as well. Something passed between the two of them that no one else could hear. Weiss blushed, released Blake and walked over to the dragon. "I think I would like that." She reached up a hand and brushed the side of Vert's face once. Surprisingly, the dragon didn't recoil and Velvet didn't object.

Aaron turned back to Ruby. "Now what was that about control."

"Back to me, okay…" Ruby raised her left hand. "It's easier to explain if you can see what I can do first." For whatever reason, her eyes started glowing. That by itself would raise alarm for Aaron, but it was quickly followed by a strong wind. Ruby lowered her arm, and her use of non-verbal magic ended.

"Ruby!" Aaron yelled. "Why would you do that?"

"Called it!" Yang pumped a fist.

"Well, it's like this…" Ruby began to explain to Aaron how exactly she found out about that power.

* * *

 **Voice actor joke (ding!).**

 **Neo Glass? Yeah, since she spends a lot of time with Torchwick, I don't think it would be too far out there to say at least she went by another name at Beacon. Also, crap interrogation is crap…**


	48. Back to 'Normal'

**Here we go. Last chapter in this part of story, but it will continue later on.**

* * *

Finally, after three weeks, it was time for the second round of the one-on-one finals. Ruby looked around the bowl of the Colosseum. The crowd wasn't as energized or as large as before, but that was expected because of the Battles of Vale and Beacon. Still, people were excited for things to get back to normal. Apparently the feeling was mutual across the world, as a second Great War was narrowly avoided.

Ruby looked to her left and right. Most of teams JNPR and SSSN sat on either side of her team, shrunk as is. Pyrrha, Sun, and Weiss were down in the arena waiting to be called. All three teams were eager to see their teammates fight it out in the central octagon. After all the recent fighting for survival, it was nice to have some structure to everything.

A blue envelope appeared in Ruby's vision and opened automatically. _"There's a bug on my camera. Could you remove it?"_

"Sorry Penny." Ruby grabbed the green and white box off the stand it rested on and gently brushed the ladybug off the lens. The mechanisms inside rotated clockwise, then reset.

It was still weird for Ruby to be holding her friend in her hands like that. She was essentially holding Penny's brain, though stuffed into a box and fitted with a camera and microphone so she could still know what's going on. Ruby was ecstatic when she found out Penny asked for this. Pyrrha was completely relieved as well. She still felt incredibly guilty about damaging Penny in such a way though.

"Is it as weird for you to talk to a box as it is to see you talk to her?" Yang asked.

Ruby turned to her sister who was sitting right beside her. Yang had earplugs in and sunglasses on despite it being nighttime. Though her concussion had gotten better to the point of not needing Aaron to put the suppression spell on, semi-bright lights and mildly loud sounds could still be a little too much for her. "Kind of, and she _can_ hear you, you know."

"Where's her team anyway? Shouldn't they be taking care of her?"

"Uhh, that is a good point." Ruby turned to the box, even though Penny couldn't see it. Another envelope appeared and opened right away. Ruby read aloud everything Penny said. "They don't know what to think. They saw me 'die' and barely helped in fighting the Grimm when they attacked. Now they don't know whether they can trust me…" Her voice trailed off as she read the last sentence. It almost made sense, with Penny's team not knowing she was an android. Then again, no matter how many times Ruby saw Penny's destroyed body, she always saw a person lying on the ground. It didn't matter that she was made of metal.

Yet another envelope appeared in front of Ruby. "Enough about me. Is Weiss ready to fight?"

Ruby blinked at Penny, then looked into the arena. Physically, Weiss was perfectly able to take over for Yang in the tournament. Mentally, though, was anyone's guess. She hadn't been cut off yet, but everyone knew it was coming. No one could just tell the owner of the Schnee Dust Company 'no' and get away with it. Then again, the video Coco posted on YouScreen, after editing help from a contact on the _Vytal,_ might have been able to help keep Weiss' father from taking action.

Her sister came back to oversee the reclamation of the two frigates Atlas lost. Still, Winter made a point of coming to see Weiss. Ruby was prepared to protect her partner again, but Weiss waved her off. At first Winter looked like she was scolding Weiss like she did when she first came to Beacon. She walked away without resolving it, with her hands clasped behind her back. Just as Ruby thought she initially judged Weiss' sister wrong, she saw one of the hands stick a thumb up in the air.

When Yang asked Weiss to take her place, the heiress graciously accepted. She was 'honored' to be the substitution, and if she won, she wouldn't be the only one on the first place podium. Yang was chosen to go onto the finals, not her.

Not everything was going so well though. Ruby looked over at Aaron, who was sitting on the other side of Yang. Ever since the battle three weeks ago, he carried an intense distrust of all Atlas androids, whether they were the new infected models or the older ones that were reactivated shortly after they were cleared by Atlas and Vale technicians. That distrust carried over to Penny as well. He knew Penny wouldn't hurt people normally, but after seeing Atlas' military turned against itself, he couldn't help feeling like Penny would turn against them if given the chance.

Ruby looked to the roof of the Colosseum and focused in on Vert. Despite Aaron's best efforts, the dragon's right wing still wasn't at full strength. He said give it time, that the wing might heal on its own. Everyone hoped that was true. Nalia was in slightly better condition than Vert, as in she could actually fly for short distances. Still, she apparently struggled to fly up to the Colosseum, and that was without Aaron on her back.

Then there was the fact that Blake was in jail.

Four days after the battle, the police came to RWBY's dorm room and arrested Blake. Apparently at least one of the White Fang members arrested ratted her out. At least she didn't run from the police. That would have only made things worse.

As far as Ruby knew, things were going well for Blake in court. She was still a minor for a few more weeks, so she couldn't have the full force of the law come down on her. Sure, she was associated with the White Fang, but that started before they changed to what they were now. That might be enough to clear her. Then again, Blake never talked much about her time in the White Fang. Could she have been involved in more things than she let on?

A hand tapped on Ruby's shoulder. "Hey, is this seat taken?"

Ruby whipped her head around. "Blake?"

Blake smiled. "Yes, I am here. You aren't seeing things."

"Wait, what?" Yang also turned around and lifted up her sunglasses. "Blake, what are you doing here? Aren't you on trial?"

"I technically still am. They ruled this morning that I'm not an immediate threat to the general public." Blake climbed over the empty chair and took a seat. "Apparently the holdover from before was quite common. There were a lot more people than I expected that were scared to leave. I'm the first one being treated like this."

"Wait, how would they know who was actually staying for that reason?" Aaron asked.

"Mistral flew in a detective whose Semblance is determining of someone's lying or not. Besides, I'm not entirely off the hook. I've got this." Blake shook her right leg. Ruby looked down and saw a tracker strapped just above the ankle. "And then there's her." Blake gestured her head back. Ruby looked back again and saw a single police officer standing by the wall. "It's not ideal, but this is way better than being behind bars."

"Is Rosie going to be out too?" Yang asked.

"Most likely. Like I said, I was the first. I'm sure more are coming later today."

"Sooo," Ruby rubbed the back of her neck, "do you know if you can stay at Beacon, or are you going to be expelled?"

Blake shook her head. "That's all up in the air right now. It really depends on what the final verdict is anyway. Another thing, I don't know how, but I think Ozpin knew the whole time about me."

"Come on, Blake," Yang started. "That's conspiracy theory level stuff. Ozpin's good, but he doesn't know _everything._ _"_

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Port boomed over the stadium speakers "Welcome back to the one-on-one finals!"

A few other announcements were made, mainly regarding areas in the Colosseum that were reopening to the public after repairs were made. Right after the battle, entire sections of seating were unsafe for occupation from taking damage in the battle. Most of those were back open, but caution tape still blocked off most of the upper seating areas.

A picture of Yang appeared on the three jumbotrons that still worked. "Yang Xiao Long was intentionally injured after her battle ended," Oobleck announced. "Her teammate Weiss Schnee will be taking her place in the tournament." Yang's picture flipped over and Weiss took her place.

"Now let the randomization begin!" Port boomed. Weiss' picture shrank and started spinning. A second placeholder appeared and started spinning as well. The first stopped on Pyrrha. Ruby pumped a fist. This would be a good fight no matter who her opponent was. Then the second placeholder stopped on Weiss. "Pyrrha Nikos versus Weiss Schnee!"

"It looks like we have a Civil War on our hands," Oobleck said. The crowd roared. After a few seconds, the expected 'Ci-vil War! Ci-vil War!' chant started up. Ruby blinked in surprise. There was usually at least one Civil War per tournament, but she never expected it would be her team against JNPR.

She looked over at Jaune, who was also looking in her direction. Ruby stood up and walked over to the other team leader. Jaune met her halfway. "Hey Jaune, may the best Huntress win." Ruby offered Jaune a hand.

The team leaders shook hands. "No hard feelings on whoever wins?" Jaune asked.

"None here, and I'm sure I can convince Weiss to calm down no matter what happens."

"She's going DOWN!" Nora suddenly yelled. Ruby and Jaune turned to look at her. "What? They're both girls. You don't know who I was talking about." Nora crossed her arms over her chest and looked away.

Ruby put on a small smirk. "I'm telepathic, remember?" She wasn't actually reading Nora's mind at the moment, but she didn't need to.

Nora's shoulders slumped. "Ohhhh…Right…"

Ruby turned around and found her seat again. The central octagon rose from the floor. From where she sat, it looked like Pyrrha and Weiss were having a conversation. Hopefully there wouldn't be a feud between the two when it was over.

"Glad Weiss is down there instead of me," Yang said, leaning forward in her seat. "Pyrrha would destroy me."

"Don't sell yourself short." Ruby elbowed her sister. "You're getting better with Sun's Light."

"Whoop-de-doo." Yang twirled a finger in the air. "I can beat Jaune. Weiss has a better chance than I would have at full strength."

"…True." Ruby looked back into the arena. The two opponents fell into fighting stances.

"Three, two, one, begin!" Port yelled, and Weiss and Pyrrha ran at each other. They clashed blades and Weiss was quickly forced back. The heiress quickly rebounded, launching several quick slashes and jabs that forced Pyrrha on the defensive. However, none of her attacks were able to land. Pyrrha either dodged them completely, or took them on her shield.

Pyrrha backhanded Weiss with her shield, sending the ice queen flying back ward. Weiss recovered quickly though, and glared at her opponent. She raised her rapier directly in front of her and a time dilation glyph appeared beneath her feet. If anything could give her an advantage over Pyrrha, it was that.

Weiss created several other glyphs around her opponent, then shot forward faster than the untrained eye could see. She bounced off each of the glyphs in quick succession, attacking Pyrrha in between each one. By the time the time dilation expended itself, Weiss was able to knock down a third of Pyrrha's Aura.

Keeping up her momentum, Weiss drove Myrtenaster into the ground. A sheet of ice spread across the stage. Weiss rose and stood tall, while Pyrrha looked unsteady on her feet.

"Weiss is putting in some work," Yang said suddenly.

"Don't jinx it Yang." Ruby 'glared' at her sister. "There isn't any wood around here to knock on."

In response, Yang knocked on Ruby's head three times. "Found some."

Ruby growled at her sister, then looked back into the arena. Both Weiss and Pyrrha were skating around the octagon. Occasionally the two would skate past each other. Now though, it didn't look like either of them had the advantage. Pyrrha most likely had to focus on using her Semblance to stay upright, so she couldn't use that to deflect Weiss' blows. Still, she had enough skill with her blade to prevent Weiss from gaining an advantage.

Pyrrha eventually managed to knock Weiss off her feet. She skated away from her downed opponent and took a breather. She raised her shield, then slammed it into the ground. The ice on the field shattered. It still stuck around in pieces, but it could be walked without slipping every two steps.

Pyrrha rushed Weiss as soon as the heiress reached her feet. This time, Weiss couldn't hold Pyrrha back. The champion warrior used both her sword and shield for offence. She was too strong and fast for Weiss to handle.

An unfamiliar glyph appeared behind Weiss. After a few seconds, an absolutely _huge_ sword and arm burst out of it. It hit Pyrrha in the chest, sending her flying across the stage.

Ruby couldn't contain a squeal of excitement. This was the first time she saw her partner's summoning in action. Weiss explained shortly after the Battle of Beacon that she could summon certain enemies that she defeated, and she used this particular one to save Velvet and Vert. However, Aaron practically had a heart attack when she explained it. To him, summoning was necromancy. To a certain extent, he was right. Knowing where he came from, no one could blame him for not liking the ability.

Pyrrha slowly stood up from where she landed. The arm and sword disappeared and Weiss fell to a knee. Pyrrha slowly approached her opponent, and Weiss never rose. According to the Aura board, she still had enough to keep fighting, but she stayed on one knee breathing heavily. That summon must have taken a lot out of her.

When Pyrrha was only a few feet away, Weiss slowly rose to her feet. She raised her rapier in a defensive position. It looked like she and Pyrrha had another small conversation on the stage, right before Pyrrha attacked. Weiss blocked slowly and sloppily and was forced back. Pyrrha spun around and slammed her shield into her opponent, knocking Weiss off the stage, and out of the tournament.

The buzzer sounded and the crowd cheered. "Weiss Schnee has been knocked out," Port announced.

"If only she had gotten another hand," Oobleck started, "she may have pulled out a victory."

Ruby sighed and looked down at her lap. Weiss made it close, and almost moved on. But close wasn't enough to beat Pyrrha. They wouldn't even get silver out of this…

"Well, she did her best," Blake said.

"Hey, she nearly beat _Pyrrha Nikos,"_ Yang reasoned. "You know, four-time Mistral regional tournament champion? If she had her summoning under control, she could have kicked butt."

"But she didn't," Aaron said evenly. "She still has some way to go, and she can get there without her 'summoning.'"

"I recorded it so she can see what went wrong." Ruby tapped the right side of her head. "I'm sure she'll appreciate that." She looked over at team JNPR, who was having a much better time. Nora was screaming and shaking Jaune viciously, while Ren sat calmly with a small smile on his face.

Down in the arena, the central octagon reached the floor. Pyrrha walked over to where Weiss was picking herself off the floor. They exchanged a few more words before they shook hands.

"Well, looks like we're all Pyrrha fans now." Yang leaned back in her chair and took a sip from her water cup. "This will still be fun."

"You bet it will be!" Nora yelled, apparently hearing Yang. In a flash, she appeared before the members of team RWBY. "In a few hours, you'll see Pyrrha crowned the Last Huntress Standing and team JNPR winning the tournament!"

"The winners get medals, not crowns," Blake said with a smirk on her face.

"Don't ruin the moment!"

* * *

"Sun Wukong has been defeated!" Doctor Oobleck announced. "Pyrrha Nikos is the Last Huntress Standing! Team JNPR wins the fortieth Vytal Festival Tournament!"

Of course, Aaron clapped and cheered along with almost everybody else in the Colosseum, though not nearly as much as those sitting on either side of him. Ruby and Yang exploded out of their chairs and screamed their heads off. Yang would probably be feeling that later. Weiss and Blake were much more subdued, but still cheered.

"Way to go Pyrrha!" Ruby yelled down into the arena.

"Way to show him why Beacon's the best!" Yang called, then swayed on her feet before collapsing down into her chair. "A little help here?" she asked over the roar of the crowd and her sister.

Aaron put a hand on the back of Yang's head. "I told you not to overdo it." He started whispering in the ancient language.

"Yeah, well you know me. It's Pyrrha for crying out loud! How can't I be excited?" Aaron finished the spell and Yang sighed in relief. "I hope I won't need you to do that for much longer."

"I can teach you how to do it, then you won't need me at all."

"I might take you up on that." Still in their seats, Aaron and Yang looked back into the arena. Pyrrha was being held up on Nora's shoulders and waved around at the crowd. Jaune and Ren weren't far behind cheering themselves. Eventually Pyrrha flipped off Nora's shoulders and ran over to Jaune and pulled him into a big hug. Both of them pulled back slightly and kissed each other in front of thousands of people. That set the crowd off even more.

"I never thought I'd see the day that happened," Blake commented.

Weiss crossed her arms. "I still think she could have done better."

Aaron looked over at his teammate. "You're just mad that she beat you."

The heiress shifted in her seat. "Maybe, but it's not like Yang could have beaten her."

"True," Yang admitted, "but that just means Pyrrha deserved this even more. And we don't live in the same room as Jaune. She may see something that we don't in him."

"Stop fighting! More cheering!" Ruby ordered right before turning back to the arena and letting out another whooping yell.

On the other side of the arena, team SSSN gathered around their leader. Sun put up a good fight, but he was still no match for Pyrrha. He broke out of the triangle his teammates formed and walked over to where JNPR was celebrating. Pyrrha saw this and moved to close the distance. The two of them had a short conversation, before shaking hands.

Aaron nodded, then looked up at his dragon. _Ya know Nalia, I think I like it here._

The dragon sent her amusement to her Rider. _Let me guess. You're happy there aren't as many rules here than there were of Vroengard._

 _There's that, but,_ Aaron took his eyes off the arena and looked at his team, _I feel more welcome here than I ever did there. We were always more free spirited than the rest of them. We had Brom and Saphira, Rafye and Irolon, but they were really the only ones._

This time, Nalia sent warm thoughts to Aaron. _You feel like you're part of a family again._

 _As close to one as I've felt since Tierm. I just don't want to blow it._

* * *

 **With that, A Rose's Scales is finished! Holy cow, this was longer than I thought it would be. In my original outline, this was chapter 36. When I started this, I didn't expect to reach twenty chapters. Well, look where we are now. I have to say, it's only because of all your support that this got to where it is today.**

 **There will be a few week hiatus as I figure out the exact timeline for Act II and prepare the first chapters so it will start out with better writing than this one did. (I actually have the first six written, but, suspense!)** **To those who have been waiting for an update on my other story, I'll try to get a few out for that. Apparently writing two stories at once is a bad idea for me.** **There will be one more upload on this story, and that will be to direct you to the new sequel. See you then.  
**

 **Now, I have to say something. A lot of you are expecting me to go into projected Volume 4 territory. Unfortunately, I had an outline laid out before Volume 3 was half over. I'm not saying Salem doesn't exist, but she's not as big of a threat as she's most likely going to be in the main series. So what's Act II going to cover?**

 **I'm glad you asked…**

* * *

A man dressed almost completely in black looked at a map of his kingdom, his empire. The first few years were rough, but finally he felt the citizens respected him as king. The city of Aroughs almost seceded with the rest of the southern cities, but a quick 'visit' from one of his subordinates kept them in line.

There was one thing that stayed at the back of his mind though. The three dragon eggs in his possession weren't the last in existence. There were three more out there, under the protection of Rider Aaron Benson. The young Rider had evaded him and his men for several years. If the elves weren't so powerful, he'd send an army and several of his direct subordinates into Du Weldenvarden to secure the eggs by force. Unfortunately, the elves had a significant advantage in their homeland, and there might be more Riders there that they kept secret from the outside world. Until the King could get more of the Eldunari under his control, the elves would survive. Then again, Aaron could very well not be anywhere near the forest. Hopefully his subordinates would be able to find some answers.

A set of doors opened behind the man. He didn't need to turn his head to know who entered the room. "I assume your report is the same it has always been?"

"Unfortunately, my liege," the elf said. "I have not been able track them since I lost track of them nearly a year ago."

"And your contacts in the Beors and Surda?"

"None of them have reported seeing a dragon in their areas."

The king sighed. "I trusted you to take care of them years ago, and you have produced nothing. I am starting to question your usefulness."

"My king, my dragon and I are the best trackers under your command. No one else would have come as close as we did."

"That may be, but Aaron and Nalia were once your acquaintances before we cleansed the Order. Could there be loyalty to them lingering in your heart?"

" _My loyalty is only to you, my king,"_ the elf swore.

"Then prove it." The king turned to face his subordinate. "Fly north of Du Weldenvarden and search there. I will send Silia to the east. The few settlements there have proven troublesome anyway."

"There may be another solution that we may not have thought of before."

The king raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Aaron and Nalia may have killed themselves to avoid capture. They wouldn't be the first pair to have done so. Knowing Aaron's history and what I did to his family, it wouldn't be odd for him to do so. It could also explain why every time I try to scry him all I see is blackness."

"Then how do you explain the lack of bodies in that cave you tracked them to?"

The elf blinked. "You and I both know that there are spells that leave no evidence of a kill."

The king brought a hand to his chin. "Suicide for Aaron is a possibility. Nalia, however, was too proud when I last saw her to take the coward's way out. Also, if my memory serves me, they begged the elders to let them find new Riders. They wouldn't destroy the eggs unless they were truly insane from the isolation…Still, I believe suicide cannot be ruled out as an option."

"I will continue to search as long as you request it of me." The elf gave the king a deep bow then left the room.

The king turned back to the map and looked it over. He needed stone to improve the defenses around Uru'baen. Normally stone in immense quantities would be imported from the Beor Mountains. Unfortunately, the dwarves weren't cooperating, and those captured in the Battle of Ilirea had long since died from overwork or by their own blades.

He turned to the one other place that had the amount of stone needed. The problem was the Spine was infested with Urgals. It would take an army just to defend the miners, an even larger one to drive the monsters out. The Urgals have killed and pillaged far longer than they should have been allowed to.

Plus, they killed Jarnunvösk. They needed to pay.

* * *

 **Post author's note scene (ding!)**

 **Fanfiction sins total: + 4 8**

 **Sentence: Where's my ship?**


	49. AN Where to go from here

**Wow. I still can't believe so many people fell in love with this story. I really can't believe people want to see more of Aaron. I don't think that happens very often with OCs. Believe it or not, this story started out as a side project for an actual book I'm trying to write. About a month into this though, I switched full time to this to improve my skills. Still, that wouldn't have happened without all of your support. Thank you all!**

 **And I'm honestly terrible with writing 'thank yous'…so yeah.**

 **For the record, I had this planned to go up today before the announcement that the Vol 4 trailer was made. I swear, I had no idea that it would come out yesterday.**

 **Anyway, here's what you're most likely here for. The first chapter of Act II is up. It's in a story called Reversal (name subject to change). At the time of this upload, you can't find it in the search engine. If you're here a few hours from now, it should be there. Until then, I believe you should be able to access it through my profile.  
**

 **One last thing. End of something major…and my football team 'upset' theirs a few weeks back (deep breath)…**

 **IOWA! SUCKS! CORN!**

 **CORN! SUCKS! IOWA!**

 **IOWA! CORN! SUCKS!**


	50. AN What? An Update?

**Bet you guys didn't expect to see this fic show up in your inboxes again. But I do have a bit of an announcement. The sequel to this, 'Reversal,' finished up last week. And now, I've started up the** _ **prequel**_ **called 'Nevermore' For those of you who don't know, it's a Summer and Raven focused story on how they took on the Nevermores. Is it necessary? Probably not, but gosh dangit! We need more Summer! There's never enough!**


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